[dafleur]

High Mercury Levels Are Found in Tuna Sushi
By MARIAN BURROS

Recent laboratory tests found so much mercury in tuna sushi from 20 Manhattan stores and restaurants that at most of them, a regular diet of six pieces a week would exceed the levels considered acceptable by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Sushi from 5 of the 20 places had mercury levels so high that the Food and Drug Administration could take legal action to remove the fish from the market. The sushi was bought by The New York Times in October.

�No one should eat a meal of tuna with mercury levels like those found in the restaurant samples more than about once every three weeks," said Dr. Michael Gochfeld, professor of environmental and occupational medicine at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Piscataway, N.J.

Dr. Gochfeld analyzed the sushi for The Times with Dr. Joanna Burger, professor of life sciences at Rutgers University. He is a former chairman of the New Jersey Mercury Task Force and also treats patients with mercury poisoning.

The owner of a restaurant whose tuna sushi had particularly high mercury concentrations said he was shocked by the findings. �I�m startled by this,� said the owner, Drew Nieporent, a managing partner of Nobu Next Door. �Anything that might endanger any customer of ours, we�d be inclined to take off the menu immediately and get to the bottom of it.�

Although the samples were gathered in New York City, experts believe similar results would be observed elsewhere.

�Mercury levels in bluefin are likely to be very high regardless of location,� said Tim Fitzgerald, a marine scientist for Environmental Defense, an advocacy group that works to protect the environment and improve human health.

Most of the restaurants in the survey said the tuna The Times had sampled was bluefin.

In 2004 the Food and Drug Administration joined with the Environmental Protection Agency to warn women who might become pregnant and children to limit their consumption of certain varieties of canned tuna because the mercury it contained might damage the developing nervous system. Fresh tuna was not included in the advisory. Most of the tuna sushi in the Times samples contained far more mercury than is typically found in canned tuna.

Over the past several years, studies have suggested that mercury may also cause health problems for adults, including an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and neurological symptoms.

Dr. P. Michael Bolger, a toxicologist who is head of the chemical hazard assessment team at the Food and Drug Administration, did not comment on the findings in the Times sample but said the agency was reviewing its seafood mercury warnings. Because it has been four years since the advisory was issued, Dr. Bolger said, �we have had a study under way to take a fresh look at it.�

No government agency regularly tests seafood for mercury.

Tuna samples from the Manhattan restaurants Nobu Next Door, Sushi Seki, Sushi of Gari and Blue Ribbon Sushi and the food store Gourmet Garage all had mercury above one part per million, the �action level� at which the F.D.A. can take food off the market. (The F.D.A. has rarely, if ever, taken any tuna off the market.) The highest mercury concentration, 1.4 parts per million, was found in tuna from Blue Ribbon Sushi. The lowest, 0.10, was bought at Fairway.

When told of the newspaper�s findings, Andy Arons, an owner of Gourmet Garage, said: �We�ll look for lower-level-mercury fish. Maybe we won�t sell tuna sushi for a while, until we get to the bottom of this.� Mr. Arons said his stores stocked yellowfin, albacore and bluefin tuna, depending on the available quality and the price.

At Blue Ribbon Sushi, Eric Bromberg, an owner, said he was aware that bluefin tuna had higher mercury concentrations. For that reason, Mr. Bromberg said, the restaurant typically told parents with small children not to let them eat �more than one or two pieces.�

Koji Oneda, a spokesman for Sushi Seki, said the restaurant would talk to its fish supplier about the issue. A manager at Sushi of Gari, Tomi Tomono, said it warned pregnant women and regular customers who �love to eat tuna� about mercury levels. Mr. Tomono also said the restaurant would put warning labels on the menu �very soon.�

Scientists who performed the analysis for The Times ran the tests several times to be sure there was no mistake in the levels of methylmercury, the form of mercury found in fish tied to health problems.

The work was done at the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, in Piscataway, a partnership between Rutgers and the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Six pieces of sushi from most of the restaurants and stores would contain more than 49 micrograms of mercury. That is the amount the Environmental Protection Agency deems acceptable for weekly consumption over a period of several months by an adult of average weight, which the agency defines as 154 pounds. People weighing less are advised to consume even less mercury. The weight of the fish in the tuna pieces sampled by The Times were 0.18 ounces to 1.26 ounces.

In general, tuna sushi from food stores was much lower in mercury. These findings reinforce results in other studies showing that more expensive tuna usually contains more mercury because it is more likely to come from a larger species, which accumulates mercury from the fish it eats. Mercury enters the environment as an industrial pollutant.

In the Times survey, 10 of the 13 restaurants said at least one of the two tuna samples bought was bluefin. (It is hard for anyone but experts to tell whether a piece of tuna sushi is bluefin by looking at it.)

By contrast, other species, like yellowfin and albacore, generally have much less mercury. Several of the stores in the Times sample said the tuna in their sushi was yellowfin.

�It is very likely bluefin will be included in next year�s testing,� Dr. Bolger of the F.D.A. said. �A couple of months ago F.D.A. became aware of bluefin tuna as a species Americans are eating.�

A number of studies have found high blood mercury levels in people eating a diet rich in seafood. According to a 2007 survey by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the average level of mercury in New Yorkers� blood is three times higher than the national average. The report found especially high levels among Asian New Yorkers, especially foreign-born Chinese, and people with high incomes. The report noted that Asians tend to eat more seafood, and it speculated that wealthier people favored fish, like swordfish and bluefin tuna, that happen to have higher mercury levels.

The city has warned women who are pregnant or breast-feeding and children not to eat fresh tuna, Chilean sea bass, swordfish, shark, grouper and other kinds of fish it describes as �too high in mercury.� (Cooking fish has no effect on the mercury level.)

Dr. Kate Mahaffey, a senior research scientist in the office of science coordination and policy at the E.P.A. who studies mercury in fish, said she was not surprised by reports of high concentrations.

�We have seen exposures occurring now in the United States that have produced blood mercury a lot higher than anything we would have expected to see,� Dr. Mahaffey said. �And this appears to be related to consumption of larger amounts of fish that are higher in mercury than we had anticipated.�

Many experts believe the government�s warnings on mercury in seafood do not go far enough.

�The current advice from the F.D.A. is insufficient,� said Dr. Philippe Grandjean, adjunct professor of environmental health at the Harvard School of Public Health and chairman of the department of environmental medicine at the University of Southern Denmark. �In order to maintain reasonably low mercury exposure, you have to eat fish low in the food chain, the smaller fish, and they are not saying that.�

Some environmental groups have sounded the alarm. Environmental Defense, the advocacy group, says no one, no matter his or her age, should eat bluefin tuna. Dr. Gochfeld said: �I like to think of tuna sushi as an occasional treat. A steady diet is certainly problematic. There are a lot of other sushi choices.�

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/dining/2...amp;oref=slogin

[XlYesterdaYlX]

but i love tuna sushi.....oh well i rarely eat japanese food anyways..sigh.

[xsilentangel]

Lmao, I always laugh at my guy friend since he's in love with tuna and scared about mercury..
He eats it like three times a day.

[sentuhmentalfo0l]

nooo i love tuna rolls...just great

[xt1naaa]

I just went to the city to eat sushi last weekend...
Luckily I was in the mood for unagi and didnt touch a single tuna

[pyroignition]

they act like they dun eat tuna, every fish has a little mercury, we are gonna die some day, quit aiming at japanese restaurants

[dafleur]

they act like they dun eat tuna, every fish has a little mercury, we are gonna die some day, quit aiming at japanese restaurants

errrr...ok???

[dafleur]

Tuna Fish Stories: The Candidates Spin the Sushi
By CLYDE HABERMAN

It�s been a rough week.

The stock market has gone through more gyrations than an Elvis impersonator. The governor and the mayor announced budget plans that are based on revenue assumptions that may be as flimsy as a striking screenwriter�s bank account. The death of Heath Ledger was, of course, sad and unsettling.

But nothing rattled some New Yorkers more than the news that high levels of mercury were found in tuna sushi sold in Manhattan stores and restaurants. Sushi is such a staple here these days that it�s almost as if the entire city has declared war on fish.

While some New Yorkers shrugged off the mercury report, others worried about being turned into human thermometers. Given the likelihood that this is more than a local concern, it seemed worth seeking the views of the candidates who are still in the game of presidential Chutes and Ladders. They were all too busy traipsing around South Carolina and Florida to come to the phone, but their campaign staffs provided statements in their names.

�Unlike other candidates, I have been saying since 2002 that we were headed down a disastrous road with our sushi policy,� Senator Barack Obama said. �But what we need now is a president who will not use this crisis just to scare up votes.�

�We need a president who can get past the tired, old partisan divisions that pit one kind of fish against another,� Mr. Obama said. �It�s fine to get the mercury out of tuna. But all fish are in this together. We can�t rest until we have safe sushi of all types, all across this great land. To those who say we aim too high, we say, �Yes, we can.� �

Former Senator John Edwards said that the sushi menace underlined the widening gulf between rich and poor. �We have to stand up for the millions of impoverished Americans who go to bed every night unable even to dream about tuna sushi,� he said. �This is the other America, not the fat cats plunking down $400 at places like Masa in New York.�

�We need to speak up for the little guy,� Mr. Edwards said, �the guy who gets mercury poisoning and then sits for hours in a hospital emergency room because he can�t afford health insurance.�

Just before saying he would drop out of the race, Representative Dennis Kucinich said that, as a vegan, he believed Americans should throw away the slice of fish (�tuna, salmon or yellowtail � they�re all the same�) and eat just the rice ball with a dash of wasabi.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton warned against �false hopes� that the sushi menace would soon be over. She declined to pledge that, if elected, she would have all mercury out of tuna within four years. �But I can promise,� Mrs. Clinton said, �that on Day One, I will be ready for action.

�Experience counts, and I�ve been eating sushi almost since that transforming day when I heard Martin Luther King speak in person.�

YET former President Bill Clinton sought to tamp down talk of a crisis. �Don�t believe these fairy tales,� Mr. Clinton said. �But don�t roll the dice, either. The mercury isn�t a problem if ingested in small doses. Hillary and I are urging all you good people who love tuna maki to cut it into little pieces. Dice the roll.�

On the Republican side, Senator John McCain repeated a line from just before the New Hampshire primary. �I�m too old to be scared,� he said. �My friends, we�ve been through hard times before, but we can overcome this transcendent challenge. I don�t have to tell you, my friends, about my years in Asia. I have the experience, my friends, to handle this sushi ordeal.�

Former Gov. Mitt Romney blamed imported tuna. �It�s all that immigrant fish,� he said. �We�re not controlling our borders. I promise you that on my watch we will not be a sanctuary for dangerous foreign tuna.�

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee urged Americans to avoid raw fish of any type, regardless of national origin. �Nowhere does the Bible mention sushi in the Garden of Eden,� he said. �Give me that old-time cuisine. If it was good enough for Adam and Eve, it�s good enough for me.�

Representative Ron Paul said that New York had brought the mercury attack on itself by having �invaded foreign waters� in search of ever more tuna for insatiable diners. That brought a sharp rebuke from former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York. �I�ve heard some pretty absurd explanations for the attack, but not that one,� Mr. Giuliani said.

Still, �this is a very, very serious problem,� he said, �and I don�t want to minimize how very, very important it is.

�But trust me, Sept. 11 was a lot worse.�

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/nyregion...amp;oref=slogin

[Antz]

no way T_T i always eat the tuna ones T_T

[`deelicious]

all large deep water fish have higher levels of mercury in general.

[kiki]

O.o I just had like a tuna tartar. I think that counts.. hahah...
oh well. it tasted really good.

[addickshun]

uh oh. this is not good

[chibi_cupcake]

o well, i dont like the tuna anyway >_>
salmon sashimi ftw o_o

and its not gonna stop me from eating my salmon sashimi!! <3

[Alethia]

all large deep water fish have higher levels of mercury in general.

That's absolutely right.
And it's not just tuna, and certainly isn't just your tuna sushi that will contain high mercury levels.

Mercury remains present regardless of whether the fish is cooked or not. If people are so worried, they should lay off the canned tuna. Not just that, lay off your barramundi, your salmon etc etc. and DON'T touch fish & chips curz those are generally made with LARGE fishes~
Hell just don't eat fish if you're so freaked out by this supposed finding curz u don't want to turn into a "human thermometer". LOL

It's really funny that every once in a while.. some medic will come up with a research tellin us that we are slowing killing ourselves by eating somethg that we've all been eating in our daily lives.. and then pple will start freakin out, and the food fad will die off.

I think most people fail to comprehend the fact that the adverse effect of these medical findings will generally only be harmful or fatal if taken in large or excessive quantity.

And i'm very sure that eating McDonald's burgers everyday will kill all of us faster than eating tuna sushi.

[OukaKioshi]

AWW i love tuna =( kay i love all sushi.. but yeah
salmon is my favouritee. BUT TUNANA T__T haha

[sugarplum892]

hmm i dont eat tuna ones but now im definetly not even gonna touch it lol

[koneee]

Mmmmmm mercury in fish is delicious as transfat in mcdonalds DELISHIOUSHH!!! Won't be stopping me! mwahaha

[akira53]

wow how old is this article? lol
I cut down my fish consumption a long time ago because of this.

[Tamar1973]

Groan...I love Spicy Tuna Sushi.

[tinatran_]

tuna sushi is okay .. i hardly eat it though, so it doesn't really matter to me. i prefer salmon =D