Joint FDA and EPA Advisory What You Need to Know about Mercury in Fish and Shellfish

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Joint FDA and EPA AdvisoryWhat You Need to Know
about Mercury in Fish and Shellfish The Public
Health Message David W K Acheson M.D.Center
for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA
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Important factors in developing the advisory

• What is known about current levels of MeHg in
  women of childbearing age in the U.S.?
• Levels of MeHg in fish in the U.S.
• Who is the target population?
• Maintaining the public health balance between the
  risks of exposure to MeHg an the benefits to be
  gained from eating fish.

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NHANES Blood Mercury Levels in Women of
Childbearing Age
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FDA 2003 Mercury Testing, 12 Species

• Samples were fresh, refrigerated or frozen
• Each sample tested was composite of 12 individual
  samples
• Tested in FDA laboratories
• Used standard methods for total mercury

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Mercury Data in Selected Fish and Shellfish

• Previous Data 2003 Data
• MEAN RANGE n MEAN RANGE n
• Bluefish 0.30 0.20-0.40 2 0.318 0.139-0.479 21
• Croaker 0.28 0.18-0.41 15 0.054 0.013-0.096 21
• Grouper 0.27 0.19-0.33 48 0.569 0.072-1.205 20
• Crawfish/crayfish NA NA NA 0.028 0.014-0.047 20
• Trout Freshwater 0.42 1.22 (max) NA NA NA NA
• Farm Raised Trout NA NA NA 0.033 0.015-0.110 15
• Orange Roughy 0.58 0.42-0.76 9 0.485 0.013-0.762
  20
• Red Snapper 0.60 0.07-1.46 10 0.154 0.077-0.395 1
  2
• Trout Seawater 0.27 ND-1.19 4 0.328 0.022-0.744 2
  0
• Tilefish 1.45 0.65-3.73 60 NA NA NA
• Golden Tilefish NA NA NA 0.208 0.055-1.123 20
• Whitefish 0.16 ND-0.31 2 0.068 0.027-0.137 14
• Black Sea Bass NA NA NA 0.127 0.058-0.352 20
• Sardine NA NA NA 0.016 0.004 - 0.035 21

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2003 Testing of Canned Tuna

• 75 major brands
• 25 store, local or other brands
• Representative of the volume and type of major
  and local brands and packing medium (spring
  water, broth, oil) in area
• Samples collected in Los Angeles, San Francisco,
  Seattle, Chicago, Dallas, New England, New York,
  Florida.

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Mercury Data in Canned Tuna

• Previous data 2003 data
• MEAN RANGE n MEAN RANGE n
• Canned tuna 0.17 0.000-0.75 248 NA NA NA
• Albacore/white tuna 0.29 ND- 0.49 17 0.358
  0.03-.85 170
• Light tuna 0.12 ND-0.75 225 0.123
  0.00-0.53 119

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Title of Joint AdvisoryWhat You Need to Know
about Mercury in Fish and Shellfish2004 EPA AND
FDA ADVICE FOR WOMEN WHO MIGHT BECOME PREGNANT
WOMEN WHO ARE PREGNANT NURSING MOTHERS YOUNG
CHILDREN.
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2004 Joint Advisory has three main elements

• Risk/Benefit Message
• Consumer Advice
• Additional Information

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Risk Message

• Who is at risk
• WOMEN WHO MIGHT BECOME PREGNANT, WOMEN WHO ARE
  PREGNANT, NURSING MOTHERS, AND YOUNG CHILDREN

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Risk Message(continued)

• Why they are at risk
• Fish and shellfish are an important part of a
  healthy diet. Fish and shellfish contain
  high-quality protein and other essential
  nutrients, are low in saturated fat, and contain
  omega-3 fatty acids
• Yet some fish and shellfish contain higher levels
  of mercury that may harm an unborn baby or young
  childs developing nervous system. The risks
  from mercury in fish and shellfish depend on the
  amount of fish eaten and the levels of mercury in
  the fish and shellfish.

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Consumer advice

• Benefits and risk
• If you follow advice given by FDA and EPA women
  and children will receive the benefits of eating
  fish and shellfish and be confident that they
  have reduced their exposure to the harmful
  effects of mercury.

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Consumer advice
How much fish?

• 3 recommendations
• 1. Do not eat Shark, Swordfish, King Mackerel,
  or Tilefish because they contain high levels of
  mercury

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Consumer advice(continued)
How much fish?

• 2. 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, low in
  mercury
• shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock,
  catfish
• Another commonly eaten fish, albacore
  (white) tuna has more mercury than canned light
  tuna. So, when choosing your two meals , you
  may eat up to 6 ounces (one average meal) of
  albacore tuna per week.

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Consumer advice(continued)
How much fish?

• 3. Check local advisories about the safety of
  fish caught by family and friends in your local
  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
  dont consume any other fish during that week.
• .

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Consumer advice(continued)
How much fish

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

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Additional Information

• 1. What is mercury and methylmercury?
• Mercury occurs naturally in the environment and
  can also be released into the air through
  industrial pollution. Mercury falls from the air
  and can accumulate in streams and oceans and is
  turned into methylmercury in the water. It is
  this type of mercury that is harmful to your
  unborn baby. Fish absorb the methylmercury as
  they feed in these waters and so it builds up in
  them. It builds up more in some types of fish
  and shellfish than others, depending on what the
  fish eat, which is why the levels in the fish
  vary.

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Additional Information

• 2. I'm a woman who could have children but Im
  not pregnant - so why should I be concerned about
  methylmercury?
• If you regularly eat types of fish that are high
  in methylmercury, it can accumulate in your blood
  stream over time. Methylmercury is removed from
  the body naturally, but it may take over a year
  for the levels to drop significantly. Thus, it
  may be present in a woman even before she becomes
  pregnant. This is the reason why women who are
  trying to become pregnant should also avoid
  eating certain types of fish.

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Additional Information

• 3. Is there methylmercury in all fish and
  shellfish?
• Nearly all fish contain traces of methylmercury.
  However, larger fish that have lived longer have
  the highest levels of methylmercury because
  they've had more time to accumulate it. These
  large fish (swordfish, shark, king mackerel and
  tilefish) pose the greatest risk. Other types of
  fish are safe to eat in the amounts recommended
  by FDA and EPA

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Additional Information

• 4. I dont see the fish I eat in the advisory.
  What should I do?
• If you want more information about the levels in
  the various types of fish you eat, see the FDA
  food safety website www.cfsan.fda.gov/frf/sea-meh
  g.html or the EPA website at www.epa.gov/ost/fish
  .

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Additional Information

• 5. What about fish sticks and fast food
  sandwiches?
• Fish sticks and fast food sandwiches are
  commonly made from fish that are low in mercury

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Additional Information

• 6. The advice about canned tuna is in the
  advisory, but whats the advice about tuna steaks
  ?
• Because tuna steaks generally contain higher
  levels of mercury than canned light tuna, when
  choosing your two meals of fish and shellfish,
  you may safely eat up to 6 ounces (one average
  meal) of tuna steak per week.

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Additional Information

• What if I eat more than the recommended amount of
  fish and shellfish in a week?
• One weeks consumption of fish does not
  change the level of methylmercury in the body
  much at all. If you eat a lot of fish one week,
  you can cut back for the next week or two. Just
  make sure you average the recommended amount per
  week.

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Additional Information

• 8. Where do get information about the safety of
  fish caught recreationally by family or friends?
• Before you go fishing , check your Fishing
  Regulations Booklet for information about
  recreationally caught fish. You can also contact
  your local health department for information
  about local advisories. You need to check local
  advisories because some kinds of fish and
  shellfish caught in your local waters may have
  higher or much lower than average levels of
  mercury. This depends on the levels of mercury
  in the water in which the fish are caught. Those
  fish with much lower levels may be eaten more
  frequently and in larger amounts.

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Additional Information

• For further information about the risks of
  mercury in fish and shellfish call the U.S. Food
  and Drug Administration's food information line
  toll-free at 1-888-SAFEFOOD or visit FDA's Food
  Safety Website www.cfsan.fda.gov
• For further information about the safety of
  locally caught fish and shellfish, visit the
  Environmental Protection Agencys Fish Advisory
  website www.epa.gov/ost/fish or contact your
  State or Local Health Department. A list of state
  or local health department contacts is available
  at www.epa.gov/ost/fish. Click on Federal,
  State, and Tribal Contacts.

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Outreach and Education

• General and specialized media
• Over 9000 print and electronic media outlets
  focused on women (e.g. American Baby Magazine,
  Family Circle, Good Housekeeping etc.)
• Physicians, nurses, health departments
• 30 womens health associations through the Office
  of Womens health
• Membership organizations
• (e.g. American Academy of Pediatrics, American
  College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists,
  American College of Nurse Midwives, Women's
  Infant and Children Program)
• Grass roots education to high fish eating
  populations

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Outreach and Education

• Develop brochures in English and Spanish
• Develop Federal-State working group to coordinate
  methylmercury advisories
• Utilize the FDA regional public affairs
  specialists and USDA extension agents for
  community outreach.
• Food Safety for Moms-to-be (35,000 video, power
  point, brochures etc.)

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Evaluation FDA Consumer Survey

• Is the message getting out there?
• Nationwide phone survey
• Measures consumer trends on food safety
  knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors

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Conclusions

• The advisory is designed to balance the positive
  benefits of fish yet provide information on how
  to be confident that exposure to the harmful
  effects of mercury have been reduced.
• Goal is to have provide information regarding
  which fish to choose list of lower mercury
  fish.
• Planned outreach to ensure we get the correct
  message out.