PR campaign against Mercury Warnings

[bloom]

...Berman's latest campaign is to convince the public that fears about toxic levels of mercury in tuna are wildly overblown. According to a spokesman at the Center for Consumer Freedom, of which Berman is the executive director (he also heads the PR firm Berman & Co.), overly cautious federal agencies are to blame for understating the amount of mercury-tainted fish a pregnant woman would have to eat before putting her fetus at risk for brain damage. For years, the FDA and the EPA have cautioned children, pregnant women, and those who might become pregnant to avoid eating more than about one serving of white albacore tuna a week and to abstain altogether from four types of large, predatory fish that test high in mercury...

But if you go to fishscam.com, a well-designed, content-heavy website, you'll find a mercury calculator that allows you to type in your body weight and click on the kind of fish you want to eat. The calculator does the math based upon the BDLL "to demonstrate the actual dose of mercury in tuna and other fish that's completely safe to eat." According to Berman, a 160-pound pregnant woman could safely eat up to 3.2 pounds of albacore tuna a week. That's a lot more than the FDA recommends....

Berman is right about one thing, though. Environmental activists are upset about how so much mercury got into the food chain in the first place, and while they say they are trying to make people aware of what types of fish are less safe, many of them are also fighting for things like stricter controls on coal-burning power plants. "Even if all mercury emissions were to stop today," says Michael Bender of the Vermont-based Mercury Policy Project, "it would take 15 to 20 years to get mercury back down to background levels."

...Still, it would be a mistake to underestimate the lobbyist, whose message may be hitting home with Congress. On December 15 the House Committee on Energy and Commerce approved HR 4167, a measure that would prevent states from placing food warnings stricter than federal warnings. If the National Food Uniformity Act is passed, supermarket shoppers in states like California that have for years required mercury warnings on fish will be affected.

http://villagevoice.com/people/0603,hunter,71775,24.html

[philb]

1. Most big salt water predator fish have dangerous levels of mercury

nationwide hair tests by Greenpeace have found that over 30% of the population in 5 states have dangerous levels of mercury,
more than EPA health reference standard, and over 20% of people nationwide. And Adverse effects have been found to be commonly caused by these levels of exposure. http://www.flcv.com/flhg.html

Fish and dental amalgam are the 2 largest source of mercury exposure, with dental amalgam being the largest source in most people with several mercury amalgam fillings but fish being a significant source in large numbers of people.
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~berniew1/damspr1.html

Greenpeace mercury test results:
EPA's limit(RfD) of 1 microgram of mercury per gram of hair was exceeded in 21 percent (126 out of 597) of women of childbearing age tested.
Coal burning power plants are the nation's biggest mercury polluter, releasing 41 percent of the country's industrial mercury pollution. Mercury from these dirty power plants and other sources falls into lakes, streams and oceans, concentrating in fish and shellfish, which are then consumed by people. (but mercury from dental amalgam is also a major source in people, water, fish,air)

"In the samples we analyzed, the greatest single factor influencing mercury exposure was the frequency of fish consumption," said Dr. Richard Maas, Co-director of EQI and author of the report. "We saw a direct relationship between people’s hair mercury levels and the amount of store-bought fish, canned tuna fish or locally caught fish people consumed."
"People should not have to stop eating fish because they're afraid they'll get poisoned by mercury," said Greenpeace Energy Campaigner Casey Harrell. "We need a President who will cut mercury pollution and move us away from dirty fossil fuels by investing in clean, renewable energy."
Accompanying data tables by State and Metropolitan Statistical Area
October 20, 2004
http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/usa/press/reports/accompanying-data-tables-by-st.pdf

Florida 158 tested; 54% had > 0.5 ppm 34% had > 1.0 ppm; average = 1.03 ppm

Alabama 5 tested; 40% had > 1.0 ppm; average = 1.12 ppm

California 148 tested; 62% had > 0.5 ppm; 30.4% had > 1.0 ppm; average = 1.13 ppm

New York 73 tested; 70% had > 0.5 ppm; 45% had > 1.0 ppm; average = 1.29 ppm

Massachussetts 27 tested; 56% had > 0.5 ppm; 33% had > 1.0 ppm; average = 1.03 ppm

New Hampshire 20 tested; 55% had >0.5 ppm; 15% had> 1.0 ppm; average = 1.11 ppm

Total 1449 tested; 41% > 0.5 ppm; 20.3% > 1.0 ppm average = 0.7 ppm

Women of Child-bearing age
Florida 67 tested; 39% had > 0.5 ppm; 15% had > 1.0 ppm average = 1.07 ppm

California 58 tested; 40% had > 0.5 ppm; 16% had > 1.0 ppm; average = 1.54 ppm

New York 27 tested; 52% had > 0.5 ppm; 15% had > 1.0 ppm; average = 1.0 ppm

Maine 9 tested; 44% had > 0.5 ppm; 11% had > 1.0 ppm; average = 0.97 ppm

[bloom]

2. I think this PR campaign is criminal

as is "HR 4167, a measure that would prevent states from placing food warnings stricter than federal warnings".


If our world made sense - there would be MORE warnings. :argh: :grr: