Good News About Mercury and Selenium in Fish

[Guest guest]

Below URL was posted as a comment to my blog earlier. Many

people fear eating fish these days because of fears about Mercury.

For hotlinks to technical URLs, refences and the rest of the article

go to the website URL at end.

 

Alobar

 

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The best science indicates that trace amounts of mercury in the

fish Americans eat simply aren't high enough to pose a health risk.

But measuring only mercury further exaggerates this hypothetical risk.

There's another scientific wrinkle that few environmental groups are

talking about -- largely because it doesn't help to promote their

scare campaigns. An accurate picture of the health consequences of

eating fish must include other substances that affect the way mercury

interacts with the human body.

 

Selenium is plentiful in fish, but the public hasn't heard much about

its role in the mercury puzzle. As biochemists, pharmacologists, and

neurologists study this nutrient, we're gaining a better understanding

of its importance.

 

In scientific jargon, selenium has an unusually high " binding

affinity " for mercury. In layman's terms, this means that when the two

elements are found together, they tend to connect, forming a new

substance. This makes it difficult for the human body to absorb the

mercury separately. So when mercury " binds " to selenium, it's no

longer free to " bind " to anything else -- like brain tissue.

 

The research world is still developing explanations for exactly how

selenium cancels out mercury's potentially toxic effects, but most

scientists accept one of two competing theories.

 

http://www.fishscam.com/fSelenium.cfm