Lawsuit Warns of Methylmercury in Fish

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http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2003/2003-01-27-09.asp#anchor2

 

Lawsuit Warns of Methylmercury in Fish

 

SAN FRANCISCO, California, January 27, 2003 (ENS) - California's attorney

general has filed a lawsuit against five grocery store chains, aiming to require

the stores to post warnings about the dangers of methylmercury in fish.

 

In a complaint filed in San Francisco Superior Court, the attorney general's

office alleges the grocers have violated Proposition 65, a ballot initiative

enacted by California voters in 1986. The law requires businesses to provide

" clear and reasonable " warnings before exposing people to known carcinogens and

reproductive toxins.

" Generally, fish are an important source of protein, " said Attorney General Bill

Lockyer in filing the suit last earlier this month. " But consumers deserve to

know when they are being exposed to chemicals that can cause cancer, birth

defects and reproductive harm. Public health agencies have advised pregnant

women not to eat swordfish and shark because those fish contain relatively high

levels of mercury. "

Methylmercury compounds have been listed under Proposition 65 as a chemical

known to cause cancer since 1996, and methylmercury has been listed as a known

reproductive toxin since 1987.

Mercury and mercury compounds have been listed as known reproductive toxins

since 1990. Swordfish, ahi tuna, albacore tuna and shark contain mercury,

methymercury and their compounds, all of which are ingested by people who eat

the fish.

The suit asks the court to prohibit the stores from selling the fish until they

post the required warning. The lawsuit involves Albertsons, Kroger, Safeway,

Trader Joe's and Whole Foods.

Environmental groups warn that the problem is not limited to those grocers, or

to California. The state lawsuit was spurred by undercover testing conducted by

the Turtle Island Restoration Network and As You Sow Foundation, which found

high levels of methylmercury in samples of fish from the five grocers.

" The public health threats of mercury contaminated seafood, particularly

swordfish, are too great to ignore, " said Doug Israel, project director for the

Turtle Island Restoration Network. " All retailers, as well as the public health

agencies of every state, have an obligation to protect the public from harmful

mercury ingestion. "

Methylmercury ingestion is the most common form of mercury poisoning in the U.S.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other public

health bodies, high levels of methylmercury in the bloodstream can cause central

nervous system effects such as impairment of vision, motor coordination

problems, loss of feeling, and at high doses, seizures, severe neurological

impairment, and even death.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns pregnant women, nursing mothers and

women of childbearing age not to consume swordfish, tilefish, shark or mackerel

due to their high levels of methylmercury contamination. Recent research reveals

that high levels of mercury in the bloodstream can cause sterility in men and

women, and an increased risk of heart failure.

The conservation groups say that state public health agencies and the federal

government have been slow to act to protect the public health from mercury

contamination of seafood.

" Unfortunately, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Bush Administration in

general, has shown itself to be beholden to special interests, and they have

dragged their feet on this issue for too long, " added Israel.

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