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Mercury Higher in Some Canned
Tuna From Costa Rica, Study
Finds
Canned tuna from Costa Rica,
Ecuador and Mexico can contain
mercury levels 30 percent to 50
percent higher than the U.S.
federal limit, according to a
study released yesterday by an
environmental group.
Bumble Bee Seafoods was among
canners with the lowest mercury
levels in a new study.
Defenders of Wildlife said that
it found the highest
concentrations of the toxic
substance methylmercury in tuna
from Tuna Real of
Ecuador, Calmex of Mexico
and Sardimar of Costa
Rica.
Canners in Ecuador and Mexico
typically buy from fishers who
drop their nets near schools of
dolphins to nab the mature tuna
that routinely swim nearby.
Bob Irvin, the Defenders senior
vice president for conservation
programs, said larger tuna tend
to have higher mercury levels
because they are older and have
been feeding longer.
The mercury in the oceans is
believed to come from
power-plant emissions and other
industrial sources.
Defenders of Wildlife, a
Washington, D.C.,-based group
that campaigns for dolphin-safe
fishing methods, sponsored the
laboratory analysis of 164 cans
of tuna originating in Costa
Rica, Ecuador, Malaysia, Mexico,
Thailand and the United States.
Of these, six varieties – all
from Costa Rica, Ecuador and
Mexico – exceeded the U.S.
government's mercury limit of 1
part per million, a so-called
“action level” above which the
Food and Drug Administration
could pull products from
supermarket shelves to protect
public health.
Tuna Real's solid pack in oil,
for instance, had the highest
level of mercury at 1.5 parts
per million, Irvin said.
The lowest levels of mercury
were found in tuna from Thailand
and the United States, including
products from such major
domestic canners as San
Diego-based Bumble Bee Seafoods,
San Diego-based Tri-Union
Seafoods – which produces
Chicken of the Sea tuna – and
San Francisco-based Starkist.
The Food and Drug Administration
has said consumers can eat up to
12 ounces, or about two average
meals, of light tuna a week, or
six ounces of albacore. Pregnant
women, nursing mothers, and
young children should eat fish
and shellfish with lower
concentrations of mercury, the
FDA said.
But Defenders of Wildlife said
it is recommending that adults
cut back on their intake of
light tuna to no more than six
ounces a week, with children
eating half that amount.
Moreover, “people should avoid
tuna from Latin America,” Irvin
said.
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