… or so we can hope. On NPR’s Marketplace yesterday, they aired a
story about a company called Safe Harbor which tests fish to
ensure that mercury levels are "far below the maximum mercury
level allowed by the government."
Hooray for Science! I like fish, even though I had almost never had it until college,
and right now fish and other seafood account for a rather large share
of my pescalactoovovegetarian protein, so I’d really like to not have
to worry quite as much about mercury poisoning from my food. (Then
I can go back to worrying about the mercury in my dental amalgam.)
Metallic mercury vapors or organic mercury may affect many different
areas of the brain and their associated functions, resulting in a
variety of symptoms. These include personality changes (irritability,
shyness, nervousness), tremors, changes in vision (constriction (or
narrowing) of the visual field), deafness, muscle incoordination, loss
of sensation, and difficulties with memory.
That’s just about the scariest thing I can think of. Although the
cure for Alzheimer’s disease reports are really promising, I’d much
rather not have anything to cure. If I can buy more expensive fish and
save my memory, I’m all for it. If the fish marketeers (like the one
on NPR yesterday) aren’t even passing along the extra cost, what could be better?
But I really hope Whole Foods picks this up soon—going to California for fish is a bit of a hike.
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