LONDRES:
Agência alerta sobre os riscos do consumo de atum com níveis
de mercúrio
UK food
watchdog warns of mercury risk in tuna
LONDON - Pregnant women, breastfeeding women and those planning babies should
limit their consumption of tuna because mercury found in the fish could
present a health hazard, Britain's Food Standards Agency said. The groups
concerned are advised to eat no more than two medium-sized cans of tuna a week
due to a low risk that mercury in them could harm an unborn child's developing
nervous system.
"It is unlikely that many pregnant or breast-feeding women eat more than
the recommended amounts of these fish every week. But for any that currently
do, it would be a sensible precaution to change their diets slightly," FSA
acting food safety director Andrew Wadge said.
"This will help protect the unborn child and the developing breast-fed
baby. When planning to have a baby and whilst pregnant or breast-feeding,
women do need to take particular care of their health and that of their
baby," he added.
Mercury is released naturally into the environment through the earth's crust
and oceans, and almost all of the fish consumed by humans contain trace
amounts. The new advice on tuna does not apply to children or any other adults.
But infants and children under 16 were still warned to avoid eating shark,
swordfish and marlin, which have levels of mercury approximately 5-7 times
higher than canned tuna and 2-4 times higher than fresh tuna, the agency said.
A survey of fish carried out by the FSA in 2002 revealed relatively high
levels of mercury in some types of large predatory fish. The new advice was
issued after a review by Britain's independent Committee on Toxicity (COT) on
the possible risks. The committee compared levels of mercury found in fish
against World Health Organisation safety guidelines for weekly intake of
mercury.
Story Date: 19/2/2003
Planet Ark; Reuters