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Many research has been carried out by many organisations, just to know how safe is the fish as a food. Unfortunately, they has found that mercury was in all the fishes even from the isolated areas of Alaska and Canada, and species that live in the deep ocean.
Mercury was found in high concentrations in streams that drain areas mined for mercury and gold. The other source is from factories that produce certain chemical manufacturers and other industrial facilities. Coal-fired power plants also play it role when the mercury from the smokestacks enters the waterways. Naturally occurring bacteria absorb the mercury and convert it to methyl mercury. Human will get the significant effect since they absorb it very easily.

The mercury enters the food chain through the small fish and later to the bigger fish as it consume contaminated smaller fish. This is how the mercury accumulates at ever-increasing levels. It is not a surprise to know the fact that large fish such as tuna, swordfish, shark and mackerel can have mercury concentrations in their bodies that are 10,000 times higher than those of their surrounding habitat.


According to Environmental Protection Agency, it is still safe for people to eat average amount of fish since only about quarter had mercury levels exceeding the safe limit. Anyhow, more than two-thirds of the fish exceeded the U.S. EPA level of concern for fish-eating mammals.

WHICH FISH AND HOW MUCH?
1.Do not eat Shark, Swordfish, King Mackerel, or Tilefish because they contain high levels of mercury.
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 that are low in mercury are shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish.

EFFECT OF MERCURY ON HUMAN:
-Exposure to mercury can be particularly hazardous for pregnant women and small children. During the first several years of life, a child's brain is still developing and rapidly absorbing nutrients. Prenatal and infant mercury exposure can cause mental retardation, cerebral palsy, deafness and blindness. Even in low doses, mercury may affect a child's development, delaying walking and talking, shortening attention span and causing learning disabilities.

-In adults, mercury poisoning can adversely affect fertility and blood pressure regulation and can cause memory loss, tremors, vision loss and numbness of the fingers and toes. A growing body of evidence suggests that exposure to mercury may also lead to heart disease.

The good news is that high mercury levels are reversible: cutting consumption of mercury-contaminated fish causes blood mercury to drop, though it can take six months or more.

Sources from:
-http://www.nrdc.org/health/effects/mercury/effects.asp
-Yahoo! News


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