Health

Mercury is a neurotoxin that can affect a person’s health however that depends on several factors that include the age of the person exposed, length of exposure, co-morbidities of the person exposed, how the exposure occurs, the amount of exposure and lastly the form of mercury that has been exposed. There is a widespread of mercury in the environment, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), shows that most people have blood mercury levels below the levels that are associated with possible negative health effects (EPA 2017). I chose to explore the effects of Mercury on health and our environment as my topic because the most common exposure that occurs in the United States is through eating fish and shellfish that contains higher levels of methyl mercury. My diet as well as my family’s diet consists of fish and poultry so quite naturally I am concerned about our exposure to mercury. We live in a society where eating vegan, vegetarian and pescatarian are growing more and more popular due to trying to live a more healthier lifestyle that contributes to less chronic diseases and living longer however if you are eating more fish as a healthier alternative you may be doing more harm than good. It has also been found that fish meal is being used in Sweden and China as a protein source in feed for poultry and swine therefore additionally contributing to the exposure of mercury in our food supplies. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for limiting the amount of mercury in our air and water sources. In 2008 the Mercury Export Ban Act was signed into law, it was intended to reduce the availability of elemental mercury in both domestic and international markets (EPA 2017). There are three main provisions included in the Mercury Export Ban Act the first provision prohibits federal agencies from conveying, selling or distributing metallic mercury under their control in their jurisdiction. The second provision also prohibits the export of metallic mercury that began on January 1, 2013 and the last provision designates the Department of Energy (DOE) to identify one or more DOE facilities for long term storage and management of metallic mercury that was generated in the United States. This topic as well as other topics that are related to environmental hazards that we ingest is extremely important because the more information and knowledge gained will help to influence better decision making when it comes to the foods that I eat and feed my family.

References

Health Effects of exposure to Mercury, Environmental Protection Agency, 2017 retrieved from:

https://www.epa.gov/mercury/health-effects-exposures-mercury

Lindberg, A., Ask Björnberg, K., Vahter, M., & Berglund, M. (2004). Exposure to methylmercury in non-fish-eating people in Sweden. Environmental Research, 9628-33. doi:10.1016/j.envres.2003.09.005

Ramirez, J. (n.d). Fish meal in animal feed and human exposure to persistent bioaccumulative and toxic substances. Journal Of Food Protection, 69(11), 2777-2785.