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Mercury Policy Project News
Global Consensus on Mercury: Scientists Defend Science Journalists
WASHINGTON,
There is no longer a need to debate whether the writings of journalists such as
Many of us joined over 1,000 of the world's foremost mercury experts for the International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant. Together we developed a consensus declaration that addresses some of the specific points that have been raised here and elsewhere in the discussion around the New York Times article and the Oceana/Mercury Policy Project study. Many of us also have published peer reviewed scientific papers on the subject.
While the consensus declaration was not cause for tremendous alarm, it clearly highlighted the need to recognize that mercury levels in fish are cause for concern and that sensitive populations should choose low mercury fish in order to get the benefits of seafood while avoiding the risks of mercury. The consensus included the following points summarized below:
— About two thirds of the mercury in our environment is derived from human activities — Mercury is highly toxic, biomagnifies in the aquatic food web and places humans at risk if they consume high levels of fish that are high on the food chain. — In many populations there is evidence that current levels of exposure are sufficient to affect several physiological systems and as a result current mercury exposure levels constitute an important public health problem. — Methylmercury affects nervous system development and there is sufficient evidence to warrant the prudent selection of fish in the diet, specifically for pregnant women and children. — Long-lasting effects of fetal methylmercury exposure have been documented in children throughout the world.
Rather than following the selective science approach, and chasing down one or two studies that support a particular viewpoint, we recommend anyone who is truly interested should benefit from the full weight of the evidence by reading the scientific consensus in the Conference Declaration which is available here:
http://www.mercury2006.org/portals/31/Mercury2006_conferencedeclaration.
pdf Sincerely, Henry A. Anderson, MD Chief Medical Officer Wisconsin Division of Public Health Madison, WI H.Vasken Aposhian, PhD Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology Professor of Pharmacology The University of Arizona Tucson, AZ John Bolton, MD, FAAP Clinical Professor of Pediatrics University of California, San Francisco Dr. Birger Heinzow, MD State Social Services Agency Dept. for Healthcare — Environmental Health Germany David R. Brown Sc.D. Faculty member Applied Ethics Fairfield University, Fairfield, CT Richard W. Clapp, D.Sc., MPH Professor Boston University School of Public Health Boston, MA Prof. Dr. Ralf Ebinghaus Department for Environmental Chemistry Institute for Coastal Research GKSS Research Centre Geesthacht, Germany Prof. Xinbin Feng, PhD Vice Director State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry Institute of Geochemistry Chinese Academy of Science Guiyang 550002 China Philippe Grandjean, MD, PhD Adjunct Professor of Environmental Health Department of Environmental Health Harvard School of Public Health Boston, MA Wendy J. Heiger-Bernays, PhD Associate Professor Department of Environmental Health B.U. School of Public Health Boston, MA Jane Hightower, MD California Pacific Medical Center San Francisco, CA Milena Horvat, PhD Department of Environmental Sciences Jozef Stefan Institute Ljubljana, Slovenia Tord Kjellstrom, Med Dr, PhD, MEng Visiting Fellow Australian National University Canberra, Australia Lynda Knobeloch, PhD Research and Toxicology Unit Leader Wisconsin Division of Public Health Madison, WI Marc Lucotte, PhD Universite du Quebec a Montreal, GEOTOP Montreal, Quebec, Canada Kathryn R. Mahaffey, PhD Research Professor Boston University School of Public Health Boston, MA USA Peter Maxson Director Concorde East/West Sprl Brussels, Belgium Donna Mergler PhD professeure emerite CINBIOSE, Universite du Quebec a Montreal Montreal, Quebec, Canada Dave McBride Toxicologist Washington State Department of Health Olympia, WA John Munthe, PhD Department Head IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute Gothenburg, Sweden Lewis Pepper, MD, MPH Boston University School of Public Health Boston, MA Darren Rumbold, PhD Associate Professor of Marine Science Depart. of Marine and Ecological Sciences Fort Myers, FL Mineshi Sakamoto, PhD Director International Affair and Environmental Sciences National Institute for Minamata Disease Kumamoto, Minamata, Japan Ellen K. Silbergeld, PhD Professor, Environmental Health Sciences Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health Baltimore MD Alan H. Stern, Dr.P.H., D.A.B.T. Adjunct Associate Professor Dept. of Environmental and Occupational Health University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Public Health Raphael Stricker, MD California Pacific Medical Center San Francisco, CA Leonardo Trasande, MD, MPP Assistant Professor Departments of Community and Preventive Medicine and Pediatrics Mount Sinai School of Medicine, NY, NY Pal Weihe, MD Chief Physician Department of Occupational Medicine and Public Health The Faroese Hospital System, The Faroe Islands Roberta F. White, PhD, ABPP/cn Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental Health Boston University School of Public Health Boston, MA More information: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/dining/23sushi.html http://www.oceana.org/international-home-nao/ http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/labnotes/archive/2008/01/24/would-you-
like-mercury-with-your-sushi.aspx
SOURCE Mercury Policy Project
