Website Launched to Rebut Fish Stories' on Misguided Mercury Facts
A mercury watchdog group has launched a website to counter what it discribes as "misinformation on 'mercury facts' spread by industry and groups claiming to represent consumers – but in reality often represents special interests in disguise".
"So-called 'consumer groups' purporting to provide 'mercury facts' are often engaged in doing just the opposite," said Michael Bender, director of the Mercury Policy Project, which created the new information resource.
"Media professionals and consumers confronted by scientific assessments of exposure risk on the one hand and vehement fishing industry denials on the other can easily become confused. Confusion and doubt are, in fact, the intended products of the seafood lobby's public-relations efforts. But most of their claims are fish stories—exaggerations, distortions, or outright fabrications. For people not familiar with the scientific evidence on fish and mercury, sorting out facts from fables can be difficult", a press release claimed.
"We are launching our new website to counter these misguided 'mercury facts,' and instead provide consumers with the information needed to make informed decisions about exposure risks from mercury," said Bender.
The website describes what it claims to be the industry's public-relations campaign designed to deny the risks posed by methylmercury, to undercut cautionary advice, harass the news media and confuse consumers, explaining who is carrying out the campaign and how they operate.
It also offers consumers information on the mercury levels in most of the seafood choices on the market. The good news is that most commonly farmed species are low down on the mercuy scale. Of the species most popular with Americans, most are shown to have low or very low mercury levels. But some fish—including popular varieties such as canned albacore tuna, swordfish, tuna steaks, tuna sushi, sea bass, and halibut—are listed as containing moderately high to very high mercury levels. "People who eat these fish often (more than once or twice a week, depending on the fish variety) can easily be exposed to excessive methylmercury doses", the website advises.
