December 19, 2008
Jeremy Piven’s Mercury Scare
BY: Emily Fisher
Actor Jeremy Piven has mercury poisoning from eating too much sushi (often two meals a day), forcing him to leave the Broadway play Speed-the-Plow. Piven, who appears in TV’s Entourage, suffered from fatigue, dizziness, neuro-muscular dysfunction and problems lifting his arms and legs. His doctor found his body’s mercury level “almost six times the upper limit of normal and allowable.” Playwright David Mamet joked that Piven was leaving show business to “pursue a career as a thermometer.” Ok, that’s funny, but mercury poisoning is no laughing matter — it can be fatal — and it’s especially dangerous for women of childbearing age and children since their nervous systems are still developing. Oceana’s Stop Seafood Contamination Campaign is working to get mercury out of our waterways and seafood, and to spread awareness about the FDA’s warnings.