Mercury in Fish

Mercury in Fish

Fish has become popular for its good effects on health, especially the heart health. It has Omega-3 fatty acids that support cardiovascular health. Fish are also tainted with a pollutant called mercury. This poses a health risk to humans that consume too much mercury-tainted fish. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have regulations on mercury levels that are safe. The purpose of this paper is to look at the FDA advisory that is aimed to protect us from mercury health risks to see if it is sufficient and the decision-making that goes into the advisory. This information will help determine a recommendation for a possible revision.

Sufficiency of the FDA Advisory to Protect Us from Mercury's Health Risk

Mercury has always been emanated from natural resources such as volcanic eruptions, erosion of soils and rocks as well as vaporization from the oceans. Mercury is released into the environment through human actions like mining of coal, fossil fuel combustion, burning of waste, manufacturing and water treatment facilities (Nadakavukaren, 2011). Natural or human actions place mercury in the environment that is introduced to the human body and may cause harm.

This pollutant has been and will always be present in the environment. It comes to the advice of how much consumption will cause more harm than good. The FDA advises the public of fish that should not be consumed at all and fish that could be consumed at safe levels (Toxic Substance Profile for Mercury, 1999). This is a helpful guideline, but unsure if it is sufficient to advise the amount that could be safely consumed. It lacks specificity of how much fish is too much before it could cause more harm than good. A meal is defined different for everyone. This poses a significant issue with safe amounts to consume.

FDA Decision-Making

Decisions can be challenging, especially with multiple people involved as well as the people it impacts. The FDA should consider outside factors in their decisions. The decision impacts many different individuals that have their own thoughts and ideas. A good decision is made when all angles have been heard. The outside factors may bring in angles that would not have been considered because it was not a thought or idea of a decision-making team member. This would allow a more complete look at the advisory picture. It is a team effort to provide the safest food regulation for everyone on the team and individuals it will impact.

Recommendations for the Revision of the FDA Advisory

The recommendations that could be an added benefit to the FDA Advisory would be specifics of the safe levels of consumption, as well as easy to locate notices with simple language. The Minnesota Department of Health has it broken down into two categories as mercury

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