STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

relrel · Marc Jacobs

your health: mercury, hpv!

member · Hermes

I'm so glad you posted this relrel, I have been meaning to. I just read a long article on all the different fish w/mercury and was shocked that albacore had high amounts. I know a lot of girls on this board eat tuna. I also know Orange Roughy, Shark, and Halibut are pretty high in it too.

Becca · Kate Spade

Ok that really sucks because I love love love lobster and swordfish!

NCshopper · Hermes

I think I've heard that 75% of women get HPV in their lifetime. Scary shit.

e_doli · Dooney & Bourke

thanks for posting this. i have pretty much stopped eating anything beside tilapia and wild salmon b/c i can never remember which other fish are okay. now i'll take this with me.

relrel · Marc Jacobs

NCshopper wrote:

I think I've heard that 75% of women get HPV in their lifetime. Scary shit.

seriously scary. while cervical cancer isn't really life threatening anymore because of better screening adn better medical technology but its still cancer. if anybody has the newest jane laying around, the one with kate beckinsale, there is a great true life story about a 28 year old girl who died from cervical cancer. it made me cry!

erin · Chanel

also scary because condoms really can't prevent transmission because it doesn't cover the whole area.

Drew · Gucci

I can't get the link to work. Is there any way you can copy it into your post?

And thank you for the information. This is the one are of foods I haven't researched and had been meaning to. I eat a ton of tuna and halibut so this is a bit of a downer for me, just judging from the other girls responses. I hope shellfish is ok...

relrel · Marc Jacobs

Drew wrote:

I can't get the link to work. Is there any way you can copy it into your post?

can't copy and paste from a pdf for some reason, do you have adobe on your computer? that could be the problem.

if you go to the sierra clubs website there is a quiz for you to take on mercury. once you take the quiz they will send you the pdf in an email. you do need to be able to open pdf files to get this from them too.

this is the link to take the quiz:

http://www.sierraclub.org/quiz/mercury/

this is the link to the epa's guidelines:

http://www.epa.gov/mercury/advisories.htm

the epa site will have a link for both the pdf format and the html format.

hope that helps some!

NCshopper · Hermes

erin wrote:

also scary because condoms really can't prevent transmission because it doesn't cover the whole area.

The other scary thing is that guys rarely show symptoms of HPV and there's no tests for guys, so they may have it and not know it at all.

relrel · Marc Jacobs

NCshopper wrote:

erin wrote: also scary because condoms really can't prevent transmission because it doesn't cover the whole area. The other scary thing is that guys rarely show symptoms of HPV and there's no tests for guys, so they may have it and not know it at all.

this might not be scary or anything but i found it highly fascinating in my research...

health disparities are a huge issue in the medical and public health field and are usually weighted along race. there have been huge studies (the most recent done by the Institute of Medicine) which have done detailed studies that african americans recieve a lower quality of care, regardless of thier age, education, or socioeconomic status. basically, if an african american man goes in for heart problems he won't recieve the same type of care as the caucasian man of exact same statistics. anyway...so health disparities generally are weighted against african americans but for hpv the disparties actually goes the opposite way.

caucasian women in thier mid twenties of average to high socioeconimic status with higher education levels are MOST at risk for hpv. why? because women in college are sluts, basically. as alanis would say, "ain't it ironic?"

Drew · Gucci

I am so bummed about the list (thanks for the link)!

I always eat fresh-frozen tuna, but I thought because I was buying wild, line-caught tuna that it is ok to eat. Plus, I love albacore. This just stinks. I almost want to stick my head in the sand and just ignore it.

I'm going to research it more, because this is so unsettling.

By the way, why isn't farm raised salmon on the "don't eat" list? I thought farm raised salmon and other fish is really bad for you cause of the mercury...

relrel · Marc Jacobs

Drew wrote:

By the way, why isn't farm raised salmon on the "don't eat" list? I thought farm raised salmon and other fish is really bad for you cause of the mercury...

farm raised salmon is definitely an anomaly, i was really confused as well. the main reason why that's okay to eat is the type of food that the salmon get fed and the fact that they are usually younger fish when they are "caught". fish only get mercury in thier system by eating other smaller fish, and the older they are the more other smaller fish they will have eaten and thus the more mercury in thier system. farm raised salmon are fed much healthier diets than wild salmon get, plus they are generally a younger fish when harvested.

bex · Chanel

NCshopper wrote:

erin wrote: also scary because condoms really can't prevent transmission because it doesn't cover the whole area. The other scary thing is that guys rarely show symptoms of HPV and there's no tests for guys, so they may have it and not know it at all.

an no symptoms for women! it is SOOOOO important to get those yearlies ladies!!!!

Drew · Gucci

relrel wrote:

farm raised salmon is definitely an anomaly, i was really confused as well. the main reason why that's okay to eat is the type of food that the salmon get fed and the fact that they are usually younger fish when they are "caught". fish only get mercury in thier system by eating other smaller fish, and the older they are the more other smaller fish they will have eaten and thus the more mercury in thier system. farm raised salmon are fed much healthier diets than wild salmon get, plus they are generally a younger fish when harvested.

Yeah, but I thought it was the pellets that they feed the farm raised fish that were far worse and dangerous, because they had concentrated the high levels of mercury? There was a huge flourish maybe a year ago warning everyone against eating farm raised salmon more than once a month because of this.

Drew · Gucci

I feel so much better now. I buy all of my seafood (except shrimp because they don't sell it) from vitalchoice.com.

Here is an article about mercury in their fish...

http://newsletter.vitalchoice.com/e_article000447391.cfm?x=b5tlFbj,b1pTrCB7,w

August 29, 2005
Size Does Matter: Titanic Tuna Sets Size and Mercury Records
Test of record-breaking tuna confirms correlation between size and mercury levels
by Craig Weatherby and Randy Hartnell

As we’ve reported in several past articles, government and independent tests show a consistent correlation between the size of a tuna and the amount of mercury it contains. Now, the results of tests on a huge, record-breaking tuna confirm those findings, in spades.

Last month, sport fisherman Dan Dillon landed an 873-pound tuna off Delaware. In addition to breaking the size record for Delaware-caught tuna, the enormous fish also broke a record for mercury content.

Mercury levels in the behemoth bluefin—2.5 parts per million (ppm)—were two-and-one-half times higher than the one ppm limit set by the Food and Drug Administration for commercial fish, above which fish cannot be sold. And, they were nearly twice as high as the highest level of mercury ever found in fresh or frozen tuna steaks.

Bigger fish pose bigger risks

Mercury becomes more concentrated as it rises up the ocean food chain, from microscopic organisms to fish. Because tuna, king mackerel, swordfish, sharks, and other predator species occupy the top rungs of the food chain, they contain

EPA/FDA Advice for Women and Young Children

NOTE: The agencies' comments on albacore do not apply to ours. Vital Choice tuna contains 76 percent less mercury than standard canned albacore.

“Do not eat Shark, Swordfish, King Mackerel, or Tilefish because they contain high levels of mercury.

“Eat up to 12 ounces (2 average meals) a week of a variety of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury. Five of the most commonly eaten fish that are low in mercury are shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish. Another commonly eaten fish, albacore ("white") tuna has more mercury* than canned light tuna. So, when choosing your two meals of fish and shellfish, you may eat up to 6 ounces (one average meal) of albacore tuna* per week.

“Check local advisories about the safety of fish caught by family and friends in your local lakes, rivers, and coastal areas. If no advice is available, eat up to 6 ounces (one average meal) per week of fish you catch from local waters, but don't consume any other fish during that week.

“Follow these same recommendations when feeding fish and shellfish to your young child, but serve smaller portions.”

far more mercury than the smaller fish they prey upon (e.g., herring, sardines, snapper, menhaden).

This is why we select only the smallest, troll-caught Pacific albacore tuna, all of which come from fisherman and nearby Vital Choice neighbor Paul Hill.

As a result, Vital Choice minimal-mercury albacore tuna contain 76 percent less methyl mercury than standard canned albacore (0.08 ppm versus 0.34 ppm), whose processors typically use much larger, older fish.

The mercury levels found in our albacore tuna are 12 times lower than the allowable limit (1 part per million) set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and six times lower than the recommended limit (0.5 ppm) set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Our perspective on mercury in tuna

A recent analysis by Harvard researchers concluded that the rewards of fish rich in omega-3s outweigh the risks of mercury exposure quite substantially (see "Fish Health Rewards Seen Outweighing Risks").

That said, it makes sense to minimize mercury intake while getting as much uniquely valuable marine omega-3 fat as you can.

Because the mercury levels in Vital Choice albacore are about as low as they get in any tuna, you can enjoy it in moderation with peace of mind.

Sources

FDA Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition. Mercury Levels in Commercial Fish and Shellfish. Accessed online August 26, 2005 at http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/%7Efrf/sea-mehg.html
Foulke JE. Mercury In Fish: Cause For Concern? FDA Consumer, September 1994. Accessed online August 26, 2005 at http://www.fda.gov/fdac/reprints/mercury.html
Murray M. Del. tuna breaks another record. The News Journal. August 25, 2005. Accessed online August 26, 2005 at http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050825/NEWS01/508250360/1006
Western Fishboat Owners Association. Raw mercury data from 91 samples of younger, 3-5 year old albacore tuna caught by US jig boats in 2003. Accessed online August 26, 2005 at http://www.wfoa-tuna.org/files/general/amtest_idrawdata2004-fixed.pdf

Looks like I'm still good to go. I hope that means my wild, line caught tuna in a can is better for me too...

relrel · Marc Jacobs

Drew wrote:

relrel wrote: farm raised salmon is definitely an anomaly, i was really confused as well. the main reason why that's okay to eat is the type of food that the salmon get fed and the fact that they are usually younger fish when they are "caught". fish only get mercury in thier system by eating other smaller fish, and the older they are the more other smaller fish they will have eaten and thus the more mercury in thier system. farm raised salmon are fed much healthier diets than wild salmon get, plus they are generally a younger fish when harvested. Yeah, but I thought it was the pellets that they feed the farm raised fish that were far worse and dangerous, because they had concentrated the high levels of mercury? There was a huge flourish maybe a year ago warning everyone against eating farm raised salmon more than once a month because of this.

im *pretty* sure that this was an exception to the rule. i think.

can you get that vital choice anywhere? or is it just in your area of the country?

laken1 · Hermes

This whole thread really really concerns me. I guess I'm just so confused because I've never seen a health / diet list that didn't specifically name salmon as some type of miracle food - that it's the best source of omega 3, etc etc. I mean, why do they tout salmon as a wonder food if it is likely to poison you ????

Example of what I mean......

Choose Wild Alaskan Salmon over farm-raised salmon. Wild salmon have higher levels of oil content than farmed salmon due to thousand of years of natural selection providing them with the fat reserves necessary to migrate and spawn thousands of miles. The oil contains high levels of Omega-3s, the unsaturated fat that helps fend off heart disease, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, breast cancer and migraines.

Unlike nearly all farmed salmon, Alaskan Sockeye salmon, for example, grow free of antibiotics, pesticides, synthetic coloring agents, growth hormones and GMOs.

-- Edited by laken1 at 17:43, 2006-02-20

Dizzy · Marc Jacobs

laken1 wrote:

This whole thread really really concerns me. I guess I'm just so confused because I've never seen a health / diet list that didn't specifically name salmon as some type of miracle food - that it's the best source of omega 3, etc etc. I mean, why do they tout salmon as a wonder food if it is likely to poison you ????

Example of what I mean......

Choose Wild Alaskan Salmon over farm-raised salmon. Wild salmon have higher levels of oil content than farmed salmon due to thousand of years of natural selection providing them with the fat reserves necessary to migrate and spawn thousands of miles. The oil contains high levels of Omega-3s, the unsaturated fat that helps fend off heart disease, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, breast cancer and migraines.

Unlike nearly all farmed salmon, Alaskan Sockeye salmon, for example, grow free of antibiotics, pesticides, synthetic coloring agents, growth hormones and GMOs.

-- Edited by laken1 at 17:43, 2006-02-20

I guess because both things are true - it is a miracle food, and unfortunately it can pretty much poison you now thanks to iindustrial pollutants that have contaminated our water - i want to go into water law so this stuff is fascinating to me...

relrel · Marc Jacobs

Dizzy wrote:

I guess because both things are true - it is a miracle food, and unfortunately it can pretty much poison you now thanks to iindustrial pollutants that have contaminated our water - i want to go into water law so this stuff is fascinating to me...

yeah, humans suck. just as soon as we find a food that is super good for us, we go an pollute the hell out of it so we can't consume large amounts of it.

dizzy....water law huh??? pm if you want some interesting stuff about water, one of our cases in environmental health was about safe water supplies.