New study: Eat fish low in mercury - Oceana USA
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June 30, 2005

New study: Eat fish low in mercury

BY: Dawn

A new study by Harvard University doctors concludes that pregnant women can boost their baby’s intelligence by eating fish a couple of times a week, but only if they avoid varieties that contain large concentrations of mercury.”

This study supports what we have known all along. Fish can have great health benefits from the Omega-3 fatty acids that they contain. Unfortunately, mercury in fish can have negative health effects, partcularly for a developing baby.

In fact, researchers found:

“For each additional serving of fish each week, the babies’ intelligence scores increased by an average of almost 7 percent. But for every increase of 1 part per million of mercury, the babies’ intelligence scores dropped by 12.5 percent. A woman’s mercury level could rise by 1 part per million if she ate a serving of swordfish once a week, said Dr. Emily Oken of Harvard Medical School.”

Now we just have to work to get the public informed of which fish to avoid because they are high in mercury. And particularly, the fish for which the government has issued consumption advisories. Grocery stores should post signs wherever fish under the advisory are sold.