Got Mercury
GotMercury is a project of Turtle Island Restoration Network, the parent organization of Sea Turtle Restoration Project.
Gotmercury.org is part of Turtle Island Restoration Network’s efforts to protect the environment and the public from mercury. Because of the ubiquitious nature of mercury in our environment and because federal and state public health agencies are not doing enough to raise public awareness and protect the public from mercury, we developed gotmercury.org.
This online tool takes the mystery out of which seafood is safe to eat with regard to the presence of mercury in certain species of seafood and allows consumers to make informed choices about eating seafood.
For more information about Turtle Island Restoration Network’s (TIRN) efforts in preventing mercury exposure and actions you can take, visit TIRN’s:
Mercury in Seafood Campaign Site.
Contact Buffy Martin Tarbox
GotMercury.org Campaign Coordinator
buffy@gotmercury.org
High levels of mercury found in supermarket swordfish and tuna in Iowa |
Ames, IA- An investigation led by a concerned citizen of Iowa found hazardous levels of mercury in grocery store swordfish and tuna located throughout the Des Moines-Ames Corridor. Directed by the public health advocacy group GotMercury.org, 20 samples of swordfish and tuna were purchased at thirteen supermarkets and analyzed for mercury content by an independent laboratory.Of the 20 fish samples, thirty percent contained mercury levels exceeding the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) mercury action level of 1 part per million. One piece of swordfish registered 300 percent over the limit. For a detailed report and mercury results please click here. The fish samples were tested for methylmercury levels by an accredited laboratory. Most of the samples were high in mercury, a known neurotoxin dangerous to infants and children and should be avoided by pregnant women and those planning to become pregnant. “It is clear from this study that eating tuna and swordfish could be harmful to your health,” said Buffy Martin Tarbox, Campaign Coordinator for GotMerucry.org, based in Forest Knolls, CA. “We have never seen swordfish and tuna mercury levels as high as what were found in parts of Iowa.” “I am very concerned that unsuspecting people may be eating fish that is contaminated with exceptionally high levels of mercury,” said Thomas Skadow who volunteered his time to collect the samples. “I will not be eating swordfish again in the future.” All the samples contained mercury, a troubling finding since eating fish is the number one source of mercury exposure in the United States according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In its own studies, the EPA has detected mercury in every fish sample within the continental U.S. The EPA has set a mercury action level at 0.5 ppm for recreational fish, half the level of the FDA standard for commercial fish. This testing was conducted as part of national effort initiated by GotMercury.org called Operation Safe Seafood. Mercury testing is occurring in communities across the U. S. A similar investigation conducted early 2010 in California found over forty percent of fish being sold in grocery stores exceeded the FDA’s mercury action level. About GotMercury.org: GotMercury.org works to protect people and the environment from mercury. Because of the ubiquitous nature of mercury in the environment and because federal and state public health agencies are not doing enough to raise public awareness and protect the public from mercury, GotMercury.org developed the free online mercury-in-fish calculators that have received millions of hits since 2002. According to the GotMercury.org calculator, a woman who weighs 140 pounds and eats a six-ounce portion of swordfish will be exposed to a mercury level that is 273 percent above government exposure guidelines. |
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