I’ve read quite a lot of articles on this subject. However, so much of the information floating around out there seems to be contradictory that I figured I’d better turn to the world’s greatest collection of question answerers to find the real truth.
Many scientists now believe that ingesting mercury into the body can eventually cause Alzheimers. Apparently the most common source of mercury is from eating fish. But how much of this has actually been proven? From different sources, I’ve heard different recommendations for what amount of fish can be safely eaten. No more than four ounces a week seems to be a common figure, but I’ve never seen a scientific basis for it. Has anyone actually proved that eating less than four ounces a week of fish total actually reduces your risk of Alzheimers, or is it just a figure arrived at by guesswork? Also, some sources suggest that all fish contain mercury, but others say only freshwater fish. What’s the deal with that?
Cite? All I can find are the anti-mercury amalgam dental fillings people, and “alternate” websites like rense.com and mercola.com. I don’t see any reputable research definitely linking mercury, from any source, whether dental fillings or fish or thimerosol vaccines, with Alzheimers.
However, “appearing to affect some of the biochemical processes implicated in Alzheimers” is a long way from “causing Alzheimers”.
Just about every species of fish that’s edible has been found to have mercury in it at some point. I’ve never heard anybody say “only freshwater fish”. As a matter of fact, the worst and most notorious offenders–swordfish, tuna, shark, and tilefish–are all saltwater fish.
As I understand it, Lake Erie walleye (or, for that matter, almost any Lake Erie fish) is also pretty bad on that count. The problem in Lake Erie is that the filter-feeding zebra mussels have concentrated all of the mercury into the food chain. The water’s cleaner than ever (at its worst, swimming in the lake was forbidden on health grounds), but you won’t catch me eating anything that came out of there.
From the stuff I’ve seen from the state Dept. of Natural Resources, the mercury content is related to the age and the fattiness of the fish. Mercury accumulates over time, and the place it settles most is in fat.
Would I be right in thinking that these examples are all carnivorous fish, which alone could cause them to develop higher concentrations of mercury than those lower on the food chain?
So the much-feared Zebra Mussels have actually cleaned up Lake Erie? I’ve heard that they have a tremendous filtering effect…they actually have made the water very clear…is this true?