Health Concerns
http://www.fishinghurts.com/healthConcerns-WomenChildren.asp
Deadly Poisons From the Deep
Fish flesh today is badly contaminated with toxic chemicals that are
known to cause cancer and brain degeneration and is also the most
likely of all foods to make you sick from bacterial contamination.

Think Fish Is a Health Food? Think Again.
Fish live in water that is so polluted, you would never dream of
drinking it. But you’re ingesting this toxic brew—bacteria,
contaminants, heavy metals and all—every time you eat fish.

Researchers at the University of Illinois found that fish-eaters
with high levels of PCBs in their blood have difficulty recalling
information they have learned just 30 minutes earlier.6

FishÂ’s bodies absorb toxic chemicals in the water around them, and the
chemicals become more concentrated as they move up the food chain. Big
fish eat little fish, with the bigger fish (such as tuna and salmon)
absorbing chemicals from all the other fish they eat. Fish flesh
stores contaminants, such as PCBs, which cause liver damage, nervous
system disorders, and fetal damage; dioxins, also linked to cancer;
radioactive substances like strontium 90; and other dangerous
contaminants like cadmium, mercury, lead, chromium, and arsenic, which
can cause health problems ranging from kidney damage and impaired
mental development to cancer.1,2 3,4 These toxins are stored in the
body fat of humans who eat fish and remain in their bodies for
decades.5

Seafood is the number one cause of food poisoning in the United
States.8 Seafood poisoning can result in extreme discomfort, kidney
damage, nervous system damage, and even death.9

Seafood is also the number one cause of food poisoning in the United
States. Many of our waterways are polluted with human and animal
feces, and this waste carries dangerous bacteria like E. coli. So when
we eat fish, we are exposing ourselves to the unnecessary risk of
contracting a nasty bacterial illness that can lead to mild to extreme
discomfort, nervous system damage, and even death.7

According to a report by the General Accounting Office, the seafood
industry is dangerously underregulated. In fact, the Food and Drug
Administration doesnÂ’t even bother to test most fish flesh for many
well-known chemical and bacterial health hazards.10

It's the Mercury

Consumption of fish and other sea animals is the sole source of
human exposure to methyl mercury.

—New England Journal of Medicine (2003)12

Around the world, fish are accumulating toxic mercury in their flesh
as a result of industrial pollution. Fish absorb and ingest the
mercury and store it in their tissues. If you eat fish, your body will
absorb mercury from the fishÂ’s flesh, and the accumulation of this
toxin can lead to serious health problems. It is worth noting that
fish consumption is the sole source of human exposure to this known
poison.11

Eating even small amounts of fish flesh can have a big impact on the
levels of mercury in our blood. A study by the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) revealed that women who ate fish just twice a
week had blood mercury concentrations seven times higher than women
who hadnÂ’t eaten fish in the previous month.13 Studies have also shown
that a 140-pound woman will be 30 percent over the EPA cutoff for safe
mercury levels if she eats just one 6-ounce can of white tuna each
week.14

Mercury is known to cause severe health problems for humans,
including brain damage, memory loss, personality change, tremors,
spontaneous abortion, and damage to a developing fetus. 17

Mercury Is a Poison

"We found that if people eat fish, the mercury goes up. They stop
eating fish, the mercury goes down. It's that simple ... It's a
documented poison. Wherever it's seen, it's been a problem."

—Dr. Jane M. Hightower21

Mercury is known to cause severe health problems for humans, including
brain damage, memory loss, personality change, tremors, spontaneous
abortion, and damage to a developing fetus.15 Mercury poisoning from
eating fish can also cause fatigue and memory loss, which some doctors
call “fish fog.”16

A study conducted by San Francisco physician Jane Hightower found that
dozens of her patients had high levels of mercury in their bodies and
many showed symptoms of mercury poisoning, including hair loss,
fatigue, depression, difficulty concentrating and headaches. She found
that her patientsÂ’ symptoms improved when they stopped eating fish.18
“[Mercury is] a documented poison. Wherever it’s seen, it’s been a
problem,” says Hightower.19
Researchers have also shown that the mercury in marine animals can
cause heart problems in humans who eat their flesh. A recent report
released by the Research Institute of Public Health in Finland showed
that men who have elevated levels of mercury in their blood from
eating fish are roughly 1.5 times more likely to suffer from heart
problems, including heart disease and heart attacks.20

Toxic Flesh

Fish can concentrate extremely high levels of chemical residues in
their flesh and fat, as much as 9 million times that of the water in
which they live.22

Mercury isn’t the only dangerous toxin in fish flesh—people who eat
fish also ingest PCBs. As big fish eat little fish, PCBs become more
concentrated in their flesh. Fish-eaters who ingest these dangerous
chemicals suffer from increased cancer risk and may experience
decreased mental functioning and damaged sexual health.

PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are synthetic chemicals that were
once used in hydraulic fluids and oils and electrical capacitors and
transformers. These toxins were banned in the United States in 1979
for use in all but completely enclosed areas, but heavy past usage has
resulted in environmental contamination worldwide, especially in fish.
PCBs are dangerous because they act like hormones, wreaking havoc on
the nervous system and contributing to a variety of illnesses,
including cancer, infertility, and other sexual problems.23

Researchers at the University of Illinois found that fish-eaters
with high levels of PCBs in their blood have difficulty recalling
information that they learned just 30 minutes earlier.24

PCBs are absorbed into the bodies of fish. Bigger fish who eat smaller
fish accumulate greater and greater concentrations of PCBs in their
flesh and can reach levels that may be many thousands of times higher
than the PCB levels in the water itself, which most people would never
think of drinking.25 One bottle-nose dolphin had PCB levels of 2,000
parts per million (ppm)—40 times the amount required for hazardous
waste disposal.26 Inuit natives, whose diets consist largely of fish,
have been found with PCB levels of 15.7 ppm in their fat, far higher
concentrations than the maximum amount considered to be safe in fish
by the EPA (.094 ppm). Nearly all Inuit have PCB levels far above
guideline levels that health officials consider safe, and some Inuit
have ingested so much contamination from fish that their breast milk
and body tissues would be classified as hazardous waste.27 In the
United States in 2002, 38 states issued fish consumption advisories
because of high PCB levels.28

PCBs Will Make You Stupid

Fish-eaters in one study had high levels of lead, mercury, and DDE
in their blood. Even low concentrations of lead can cause mental
retardation and physical disability in children. Higher levels can
lead to coma, convulsions, and death.31

Dr. Susan L. Schantz of the University of Illinois College of
Veterinary Medicine has been studying fish-eaters since 1992 and has
found that people who ate 24 pounds or more of fish per year have
problems with learning and memory. (On average, people around the
world consume 40 pounds of fish per year.)29 She found that
fish-eaters often have high levels of PCBs in their blood and thus
have difficulty recalling information they learned just 30 minutes
earlier.
Says Schantz: “It had been assumed that mature adults are less
susceptible [to PCBs] than are developing fetuses. This may not be the
case.” Some fish-eaters in her study had high levels of lead, mercury,
and DDE (formed when DDT breaks down) in their blood.30 Even low
concentrations of lead can cause mental retardation and physical
disability in children. Higher levels can lead to learning
disabilities, behavioral problems, seizures, and even death.

Fish Farming: Making Fish Flesh Even More Toxic
Because salmon are becoming so rare in the wild, 80 percent of the
salmon consumed in America today come from massive fish farms.32 These
farmed fish are actually fed the flesh of wild-caught fish. It takes 5
pounds of commercially caught fish (all species that would not be
saleable to humans) to create 1 pound of farmed fish.33 All that
commercially netted fish comes with heavy doses of toxins, as
discussed above, which then concentrate in the flesh of farmed fish,
making it the most toxic thing that humans routinely put into their
bodies. Farmed salmon also have twice the fat of wild salmon, and this
fat collects even more toxins.34 Tests on farmed salmon purchased at
U.S. grocery stores show that these fish are contaminated with even
more PCBs than their wild counterparts.35
Plus, farmed salmon are dyed pink to impersonate their wild cousins.
In 2003, a class-action lawsuit was filed in the state of Washington
because the labeling on farmed salmon neglected to mention the
artificial coloring. Scientists are concerned because the dyes used in
salmon can cause retinal damage.36

Finally, in August 2004, scientists from Indiana University warned
that industrial-strength fire retardant is showing up in salmon flesh
worldwide.37

The health consequences of exposure to all the toxins found in salmon
can be grave—the Environmental Working Group estimates that 800,000
people in the U.S. face an excess lifetime cancer risk from eating
farmed salmon.38

Read about women and children »

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

22John Robbins, Diet for a New America (New York: H.J. Kramer
Publishing, 1998) 331.
23Maggie Fox, “Farmed Salmon Heavy in Chemicals, Group Says,” 30 Jul.
2003, Reuters.
24McKeown.
25Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, “ToxFAQs™ for
Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs),” Feb. 2001.
26Oceana, news release, “Report Finds Dangerous Chemical Building Up
in Marine Life and Arctic People,” 29 Sep. 2003.
27Marla Cone, “How Contaminants End Up in Inuit Food,” The Los Angeles
Times, 29 Jan. 2004.
28Oceana.
29Susan Schantz et al., “Impairments of Memory and Learning in Older
Adults Exposed to Polychlorinated Biphenyls via Consumption of Great
Lakes Fish,” Environmental Health Perspectives, June 2001.
30Jim Barlow, “Heavy Consumption of Tainted Fish Curbs Adult Learning
and Memory,” University of Illinois News Bureau, 1 Jun. 2001.
31Barlow.
32Marian Burros, “Issues of Purity and Pollution Leave Farmed Salmon
Looking Less Rosy,” The New York Times, 28 May 2003.
33S. Milius, “Carnivorous Fish Nibble at Farming Gain,” Science News,
1 Jul. 2000.
34Fox.
35Fox.
36Burros.
37Associated Press, “Traces of Fire Retardant Found in Wild and Farmed
Salmon,” Billings Gazette, 11 Aug. 2004.
38Fox.

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