SEATTLE – Some halibut and Pacific red snapper sold at supermarkets contain so much mercury that consumption should be limited, according to a state Department of Health survey.
According to findings reported Wednesday in the first statewide testing of fish from grocery stores, children and women of childbearing age should eat no more than one meal a week of those two species because of contamination with mercury, based on Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.
Previous reports on the levels of contamination in fish covered only those found in rivers, lakes and marine waters, so the study was ordered last year because “we really don’t have a handle on what the levels are,” said David McBride, a state toxicologist.
The Food and Drug Administration limits the level of mercury and PCBs in fish sold in retail outlets, but does only limited checking, and state health officials said they considered the FDA limits too high.
Nonetheless, most fish are safe to eat in moderate amounts, and are a beneficial part of a regular diet, health officials emphasized.
For the survey, Health Department workers bought canned tuna and fresh fillets of eight species of fish to test for mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, flame retardants that accumulate in the body.
The most mercury was found in canned albacore tuna, the subject of earlier federal warnings. According to EPA guidelines, women and children should eat no more than four cans a month.
The lowest levels of mercury were found in catfish, pollock, salmon, flounder and cod.
Chinook salmon topped the list for PCBs, a long-banned chemical linked to cancer and impaired brain development, but experts are divided on the risk.
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