![]() ![]() A final settlement on this case is expected shortly. The Sea Turtle Restoration Project’s testing of mercury contaminated seafood led to the California Attorney General suing state supermarkets, such as Safeway, for their failure to post the legally mandated warning signs. However, exposure from both types of canned tuna can be determined on the new calculator. Canned tuna, the second most popular seafood consumed in the United States, is not highlighted on warning signs. The warning applies only to fish containing extremely high levels of mercury. Under Proposition 65, California requires warning signs to be posted in areas where fish is being sold but the signs are not adequate to protect public health from fish containing medium to high levels of mercury. In a new finding announced last month, EPA scientists found that 630,000 babies, which represents 15% off the babies born in the United States, are exposed to dangerously high levels of mercury in the womb. Methylmercury-the organic form of mercury found in many species of fish-is a potent neurotoxin that can cause nervous system and brain damage in developing fetuses, infants, and young children. The same person consuming swordfish would have mercury level of more than three times that high. 1 microgram/kilogram-day of mercury exposure. ![]() Many consumers are not aware, for example, that a 115 pound women consuming just two cans of albacore tuna in a week puts her 310% above what the EPA and FDA considers safe a child weighing 45 pounds eating just one can of albacore tuna per week would get a dose 420% higher than the EPA’s safe limit of. “In the absence of adequate warnings by government agencies and warning signs across the nation, women of child-bearing age now have a tool they can use to protect themselves and their children from being poisoned by mercury,” says Peri. “It’s really simple to use: you type in your weight, choose the seafood item from the menu, enter the amount you eat per week, and just hit the ‘calculate’ button and you automatically learn whether or not you exceed the EPA safe limit of mercury”, says Peri. “The dangers of mercury are so great that if we had our way, we would have this tool in front of every seafood counter in America it takes the guesswork out of seafood consumption”, says Andy Peri of the Sea Turtle Restoration Project. The calculator allows consumers to calculate what their blood mercury levels would be from eating mercury–contaminated seafood and compare it to values that are considered safe by the US Environmental Protection Agency. San Francisco– A California-based nonprofit organization today released an easy-to-use online seafood mercury calculator ( ) to help consumers make informed choices about their seafood consumption. Website Gives Consumers Important Mercury Consumption Information ![]()
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