Mercury Calculator

[bajakian]

Found this mercury calculator by chance and thought that some might find it interesting. This link tells you how much of a given fish you can eat in a week and not get mercury poisoning. Interestingly swordfish is one of the highest fish in mercury content.

Mercury Calculator

[Uncle Buck]

Note that the EPA's recommendation for a safety margin is 10Xs less than what would actually be dangerous. So whatever the calculator says, divide by 10 to get the safety margin. That's the number that environmentalists use to put fear into consumers.

In my case the safety margin "reference dose" and actual safe "theoretical harm threshold" per week are:
Swordfish: .12lbs / 1.2lbs (62.4lbs per year)
Marlin: .25 / 2.5 (130)
Grouper: .27 / 2.7 (140.4)
Canned Albacore: .35 / 3.5 (182)
Tilefish: .87 / 8.7 (452.4)
...and get this... Tilapia: 12.6 / 126 -- I can safely eat 546 pounds of f***in Tilapia per month! That's just over 3.27 TONS per year!

At those rates, I'd die of choking before ever suffering neurological damage from methyl mercury poisoning!

[Great Escape]

Very useful! Thanks for sharing.

[Uncle Buck]

Hmmm... I wonder what the Minke whale risk levels are? Oh, wait... that's not actually "fish". But they are mammals like us, and eat fish and crustaceans exclusively every day for their entire lives. Seems to work out just fine for them.

[OneLuv1979]

Yea my wife is seriously bumming as she is pregnant and the doc says she cant eat fish !!!

[Uncle Buck]

If you read the truth through the "myths", the omega-3 health benefits in fish far outweigh any mercury risk. Your wife could eat a full fish dinner several days per week and still consume many times less than would cause potential health risks for the baby. Of course, she has every right to be conservative and eat cautiously... but should not fear having a fish dinner a few times per month. Especially if it's fish very low on the risk list, like dolphin and snapper.

[bajakian]

Originally Posted by Uncle Buck

Note that the EPA's recommendation for a safety margin is 10Xs less than what would actually be dangerous. So whatever the calculator says, divide by 10 to get the safety margin. That's the number that environmentalists use to put fear into consumers.

In my case the safety margin "reference dose" and actual safe "theoretical harm threshold" per week are:
Swordfish: .12lbs / 1.2lbs (62.4lbs per year)
Marlin: .25 / 2.5 (130)
Grouper: .27 / 2.7 (140.4)
Canned Albacore: .35 / 3.5 (182)
Tilefish: .87 / 8.7 (452.4)
...and get this... Tilapia: 12.6 / 126 -- I can safely eat 546 pounds of f***in Tilapia per month! That's just over 3.27 TONS per year!

At those rates, I'd die of choking before ever suffering neurological damage from methyl mercury poisoning!

Bill- I think you mean that you want to multiply by ten to get the amount that you can safely eat.

[Uncle Buck]

That's what I initially thought. But the calculator shows the actual safe consumption amount... referred to as the "theoretical harm threshold". Divide that by 10 to get the ultra-conservative (10Xs safer "reference dose") level that the fear-mongers claim is the maximum healthy intake.

From the website, 3rd paragraph on the "Mercury Calculator" page:
"This calculator uses the Environmental Protection Agency's "Benchmark Dose Lower Limit" (BMDL) to demonstrate the actual dose of mercury in tuna and other fish that's completely safe for consumption. Fishy calculators run by the Environmental Working Group and other scaremongering organizations use the EPA's "Reference Dose" instead -- which is this BMDL divided by ten. So the amount of mercury that might be harmful is actually ten times greater than the amount the U.S. government (and a growing activist chorus) wants you to consider "unsafe."

So if the actual safe consumption limit of swordfish (for me) is 1.2lbs per week, the amount that 'environmentalists' would claim to be my maximum safe consumption amount is .12lbs per week... 10Xs less than what the EPA considers safe. They're claiming that roughly 1 swordfish dinner entree per month is safe, whereas I could actually have it about twice per week without any risk. ...and that's considering that swordfish is one of the highest risks. Given that canned tuna is even less risk, I could eat a can every day and be fine.

Even if I consistently ingested a bit more than my maximum safe amount of mercury per week, it takes decades to build to a level in my body that would put me at risk of neurological damage. It's statistically more dangerous to catch fish than to eat it!

[Uncle Buck]

You'd essentially never be at risk of mercury poisoning by eating a balanced diet that includes even a large portion of fish. ...Unless you accidentally ingest a fish that has been artificially contaminated with extreme methylmercury levels caused by industrial chemical pollution or spills. Those fish rarely find their way to market, and even fewer wind up on Americans' plates.

[emijess]

Originally Posted by Uncle Buck

You'd essentially never be at risk of mercury poisoning by eating a balanced diet that includes even a large portion of fish. ...Unless you accidentally ingest a fish that has been artificially contaminated with extreme methylmercury levels caused by industrial chemical pollution or spills. Those fish rarely find their way to market, and even fewer wind up on Americans' plates.

You need to look how much Bonita has since that is all you know how
to catch.

Richard thaks for the use of the Kites

[Uncle Buck]

They're more useful than the remora you caught! zing

[Tunaking]

There is also the question of how they calculate the amount of mercury in each fish. If I remember correctly they grind up the WHOLE fish, head and all for checking content - whereas we quite often utilize only the fillet with no skin making a considerable difference to the amount of mercury contained...

[Uncle Buck]

Yeah, I've heard that too. Bottom line... fish should be a healthy part of anyone's diet!

[bajakian]

Originally Posted by Uncle Buck

Yeah, I've heard that too. Bottom line... fish should be a healthy part of anyone's diet!

Tell that to TJ!!!

[Capt. JJ]

I did tuna research in school and studied the Seychelles Islands a lot. They have an almost exclusively seafood diet and have little occurance of mercury poisoning. Eat up! Or to be safe, better let me take it off your hands.

[out of the blue]

Kind a funny, i had an unexpected cancellation for a swordfish grill out after they were on the grill, ended up eating about 12 steaks Friday to Sunday and on Monday am went straight to the lab and did a urine sample for heavy metals and my Mercury level was ZERO... Arsenic was another story…though is not the toxic one as your levels will spike after any seafood meal

[Uncle Buck]

Natural mercury poisoning is a cumulative issue, over a lifetime. (unless artificially introduced by industrial pollution) The methylmercury accumulates in muscle and other tissue and is not excreted by the body once absorbed. The trace merc travels up the food chain, much the same way that ciguatera toxins are transferred. That's why apex predators have higher percentages of the toxins.

That was interesting that you decided to do a pee test... but it was unlikely to show any increased merc levels, even after a large intake. 12 sword steaks a week for a year... maybe.

[Certifiable]

If I am lucky enough to eat 4.5 lbs of fresh yellowfin Tuna each week...... I say "bring on the mercury poisoning".
Just pass me the wassabi and get the hell out of my way cuz this fat boy is putting down some sashimi.
After I die, you can use my blood for thermometer fluid.

[out of the blue]

Originally Posted by Uncle Buck

Natural mercury poisoning is a cumulative issue, over a lifetime. (unless artificially introduced by industrial pollution) The methylmercury accumulates in muscle and other tissue and is not excreted by the body once absorbed. The trace merc travels up the food chain, much the same way that ciguatera toxins are transferred. That's why apex predators have higher percentages of the toxins.

That was interesting that you decided to do a pee test... but it was unlikely to show any increased merc levels, even after a large intake. 12 sword steaks a week for a year... maybe.

muscle biopsy next???? I'm game just to prove we need to really gobble up the fish though will just go with your sugg and eat that amount of fish... will need sword stake donations!!!!

[weekley rehab]

thanks for clearing that up Buck. Great info

[Broadbill-Pro]

I have been eating swordfish my entire life and there is nothing wrong with me, see...

[Uncle Buck]

But apparently, it does cause baldness.

[Relentless33]

Originally Posted by Uncle Buck

But apparently, it does cause baldness.

[chummer]

Hmm, they don't show manatee in that list.