Mercury exists in various forms, and people are exposed to each in different ways. The most common way people in the United States are exposed to mercury is by eating fish containing
The most common way people in the U.S. are exposed to mercury is by eating seafood contaminated with methylmercury. Nearly all fish and shellfish contain trace amounts of methylmercury.
First, mercury is emitted into the air naturally from volcanoes, the weathering of rocks, forest fires, and soils. Second, mercury is emitted into the air from the burning of fossil fuels and municipal or medical waste.
Mercury poisoning occurs when your body is exposed to too much mercury. Mercury is a type of elemental metal found in the Earth's crust that's toxic to humans. Mercury poisoning most often happens by eating too much seafood that contains mercury. If you were exposed to mercury, contact poison control at 1-800-222-1222.
In the three leafy vegetables (i.e., lettuce, amaranth, and water spinach), water spinach contained the highest mercury concentration.
High exposure to inorganic mercury may result in damage to the gastrointestinal tract, the nervous system, and the kidneys. Both inorganic and organic mercury are absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract and affect other systems through this route.
Certain nutrients such as Selenium, Vitamin C and E, and Glutathione help with mercury removal. Adding these nutrients in your diet can go a long way in preventing mercury toxicity. Besides, high doses of chlorella, a green algae, has also been proven helpful in reducing body mercury levels.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans states that to consume those higher amounts, children should only be fed fish from the “Best Choices” list that are even lower in mercury – these fish are anchovies, Atlantic mackerel, catfish, clams, crab, crawfish, flounder, haddock, mullet, oysters, plaice, pollock, salmon, ...
The FDA recommends eating 8 ounces of salmon per week. So you *can* eat it every day but in smaller servings. If you're pregnant, the FDA recommends eating 8 to 12 ounces of seafood per week from sources that have lower mercury levels — including salmon!
Salmon is low in mercury.
Farmed salmon has on average, 0.05 micrograms of mercury per gram. This is well below the levels deemed safe for women and children by the FDA and EPA, which inform the United States Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA).
Elevated mercury in blood usually indicates exposure to organic mercury (such as from eating fish containing methylmercury) or recent exposure to a high level of elemental mercury vapor. For most people, an elevated blood mercury level is associated with eating fish and other seafood containing organic mercury.
Some of the health effects exposure to mercury may cause include: irritation to the eyes, skin, and stomach; cough, chest pain, or difficulty breathing, insomnia, irritability, indecision, headache, weakness or exhaustion, and weight loss. Workers may be harmed from exposure to mercury.
Elemental (Metallic) Mercury
Elemental or metallic mercury is a shiny, silver-white metal, historically referred to as quicksilver, and is liquid at room temperature. It is used in older thermometers, fluorescent light bulbs and some electrical switches.
The mercury in these types of products can be absorbed through your skin. Mercury can damage the brain, nervous system and kidneys. It may also damage the skin, cause rashes and blotchy spots, and give skin a grayish color. The longer and more often products containing mercury are used, the greater the health risk.
Once inorganic mercury enters the body and gets into the bloodstream, it moves to many different tissues. Inorganic mercury leaves your body in the urine or feces over a period of several weeks or months.
Health effects of mercury exposure
The inhalation of mercury vapour can produce harmful effects on the nervous, digestive and immune systems, lungs and kidneys, and may be fatal. The inorganic salts of mercury are corrosive to the skin, eyes and gastrointestinal tract, and may induce kidney toxicity if ingested.
Mercury and PFOS cannot be removed through cooking or cleaning -- they get into the flesh of the fish. You can reduce the amount of other contaminants like PCBs by removing fat when you clean and cook fish.
For meats, animals eating higher on the food chain will have higher mercury levels in their tissues. Chicken liver will have the highest mercury concentrations of chicken tissues because of its role in heavy metal detoxification.
Mercury levels in 25 edible nut samples from Brazil and Spain were found in the range from 0.6 to 2.7μg kg(-1) by using the pyrolysis of sample after the extraction of the nut fat.