King’s Christian Collegiate

Christina Hong

Health Risks and Standards

                

Health Risks

                

                 Mercury is extremely toxic and hazardous to the human body. Methylmercury is believed to accumulate in the human body because of the rapid formation of methylmercury-cysteine complexes. The sulfhydryl groups in the active centers of enzymes and structural proteins are binding sites for methylmercury. Therefore the protein is then deactivated or has lowered its functioning capabilities due to the change in shape. Since proteins and enzymes are vital and numerous in the human body, mercury is capable affecting all cells.

             Mercury potentially damages the central nervous system, endocrine system, kidneys and other various organs. It also has effect on the mouth, teeth and gums. Brain damage and death are results of extreme exposure to mercury. Some children are born with serious birth defects due to the consumption of dangerous levels of mercury due to the pregnant women’s diet. It has also been hypothesized that autism has a connection with mercury.

             Symptoms of mercury poisoning include the following: impairment of peripheral vision, tremors, lack of muscle coordination, impairment of speech and hearing, muscle weakness, skin rashes, mood swings, memory loss and mental disturbances.

            

Guidelines

 

             No amount of mercury absorption is safe; however, it is unrealistic to completely eliminate mercury from our diets. Therefore, guidelines have been set up with acceptable levels of mercury concentrations in food. According to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), the maximum allowable concentration for drinking water is 0.002 mg/L. The maximum allowable concentration for eating seafood is 1 parts per million.

            

Part A: Fish and Shellfish

            

             Fish are important in a balanced diet because it has low levels in saturated fats and  high in protein, vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids. Canada’s Food Guide recommends at least two 75grams servings of fish per week.  However, about 95% of methylmercury from fish is absorbed into the gastrointestinal tract of the human body. For safety, a guideline of 0.5 parts per million for the mercury levels in commercial fish has been set by Health Canada. Most of the mercury intake into the human body is from the consumption of fish and meat.*

 

 

Part B: Water

 

             Both surface and drinking water are constantly monitored for mercury levels and treated for removal. Bottled water and tap water are much lower than the standardized maximum level of mercury concentration. The guidelines states that the mercury concentration levels are safe as long as they do not exceed 0.001 mg/L.

 

Part C: Products rich in High-Fructose Corn Syrup

 

             On average, 12 teaspoons of HFCS are consumed eat day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* Note: Vegetables and fruits have extremely low concentrations of mercury. Therefore, they are excluded from the analysis in this project.

How Much Mercury Are We Really Taking In?

Photo Credit: http://www.clf.org/programs/projects.asp?id=558