California Stores Post Warnings on Mercury-Tainted Seafood

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California Stores Post Warnings on Mercury-Tainted Seafood

Groups Support First-in-Nation Warnings, But Urge Stronger Advice for

Pregnant Women and Children to Limit Mercury Exposure from Canned

CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 24 -/E-Wire/-- In a national first, California grocery chains-- including Safeway, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's -- have begun posting warnings at fish counters advising women and children to not eat swordfish and shark, and to limit consumption of fresh tuna.

The warnings, prompted by a lawsuit filed last month by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, was modeled after an earlier filing by the Turtle Island Restoration Network and the As You Sow Foundation after testing showed high mercury levels in seafood. Today, advocates applauded the AG's efforts, but urged that the Proposition 65 warnings should also advise women of childbearing age and children to limit consumption of canned tuna.

The language posted at California grocery stores states in part: "WARNING! Pregnant and nursing women, women who may become pregnant, and young children should not eat the following fish: SWORDFISH, SHARK, KING MACKEREL,TILE FISH. They should also limit their consumption of other fish, including fresh or frozen tuna." The warnings, developed by the California AG's office in consultation with the Health Department and others, are interim and have yet to be finalized.

"We hope this expands beyond Californiaâ¦they really need to step up their efforts to inform the public of the health hazards of mercury in fish," said Doug Israel, an analyst with the Turtle Island Restoration Network. "It's the responsibility of the retailers, as well as state health agencies and the federal government, to let the public know about the impact of the seafood they're eating."

The interim warning developed by the AG's office also state that "Mercury levels in canned tuna vary, but on average are lower than levels in many other fish." However, advocates urged the AG to consider strengthening this language, given the latest science acknowledging low level mercury exposure risks to sensitive populationsâlike pregnant women and young childrenâfrom more frequently consumed seafood.

"Canned tuna is the most consumed fish in the U.S., and in some cases the only fish pregnant women and kids eat," said Michael Bender, director of the Mercury Policy Project. "While mercury levels in canned tuna are generally lower than fresh tuna, 10 states now warn pregnant women and children to limit canned tuna consumption due to mercury exposure concerns."

New medical evidence indicates that very low levels of mercury exposure may cause damage to unborn babies and young children. Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control indicates that one in 12 women of childbearing age has mercury levels above those considered safe by the Environmental Protection Agency, translating into more than 300,000 children born each year in the U.S. at risk from exposure to mercury.

Mercury is released into the atmosphere from coal-fired power plants, mining, waste disposal, and industrial processes like chlor-alkali plants. Descending from polluted air into water, mercury works its way up the food chain and can cause brain and nerve damage resulting in impaired coordination, blurred vision, tremors, irritability and memory loss, behavioral problems and loss of intelligence, and cardiovascular disease.

According to an EPA scientist attending a recent United Nations Environment Program mercury meeting, "The reason for breaking out canned tuna separately is because people eat so much more of it than other kinds of fish so that the actual exposure of canned tuna is probably the largest, on average, exposure of people to mercury. In fact, even at the average exposure of 0.2 (parts per million) or there abouts you can easily exceed the (U.S. EPA's) reference dose at non-pathological levels." Last July, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's food safety committee recommended that pregnant women and children be warned to limit consumption of canned tuna due to mercury. However, after several months, the FDA has yet to act.

Last Monday, the British Food Standards Agency recommended that pregnant and nursing women not eat more than two cans of canned tuna a week. For more information: California Grocers AssociationâProposition 65: http://www.cagrocers.com/doc.asp?id=331 San Francisco Chronicle 2/21/03 news article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/02/2 1/MN149767.DTL Mobile Register 2/19/03 news article: http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_stan dard.xsl?/base/news/104564993639351.xml British Food Standards Agency 2/17/03 announcement: http://www.foodstandards.gov.uk/news/pressreleases/tuna_mercury

United Nations Governing Council 2/7/03 press release: http://www.unep.org/Documents/Default.asp?DocumentID=277&ArticleID; =3211

United Nations December 2002 Global Mercury Assessment Report: http://www.chem.unep.ch/mercury

Turtle Island Restoration Network: http://www.seaturtles.org

Mercury Policy Project: http://www.mercurypolicy.org

Mercury Policy Project

Mercury Policy Project,

Turtle Island Restoration Network,

[REDACTED-PHONE] ext. 104

http://www.mercurypolicy.org

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