Defenders' Experts
The Risks of Following Government Recommendations in the FDA/EPA Joint Advisory on Tuna Consumption
In 1975, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) set a maximum permissible amount of mercury found in fish available for human consumption of 1.0 parts per million (ppm). This "action level" is the level above which the agency can take legal action to remove products from store shelves and protect consumers.
In 1997, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) set a recommended maximum mercury intake limit for humans of 0.1 micrograms of mercury per kilogram of body weight per day (μg/kg/day). This is the amount of mercury one can ingest daily over a lifetime without causing harm.
In March of 2004, to clear up the confusion caused by these competing recommendations, the EPA and the FDA issued a Joint Advisory that offers specific guidelines on the consumption of tuna and other seafood. The advisory essentially says that it is safe to eat two cans (12 ounces) of light canned tuna or one can (six ounces) of albacore (white) tuna per week. Many public health officials have criticized this advisory for failing to offer advice based on an individual's bodyweight or to provide clear recommendations for particularly at-risk populations such as pregnant women and children.
The Defenders of Wildlife report "Is Our Tuna ‘Family Safe'? Mercury in America's Favorite Fish" shows that, based on the average mercury levels found in the canned light tuna studied, a person following the Joint Advisory could easily exceed the EPA's recommended daily limit on mercury intake (reference dose). This is especially true of pregnant women and children and when the tuna consumed is imported from Latin America.
The report provides some astonishing statistics:
- Considering the average mercury levels found in Defenders' testing, a person would have to weigh more than 300 pounds to consume the amount of tuna recommended in the FDA/EPA joint advisory and still stay below the EPA's reference dose.
This means that:
- A 140-pound woman eating two average cans of light tuna a week from our study would be eating more than twice (218 percent) the EPA's reference dose.
- A 45 pound child eating just one average can of light tuna a week from our study would get a dose of mercury more than three times the EPA's reference dose.
The situation is even worse when it comes to an average can of light tuna imported from Latin America:
- A person would have to weigh 440 pounds to stay under the EPA's mercury reference dose and eat 12 ounces (two cans) of an average Latin American brand of light tuna a week.
- A person eating two cans (12 ounces) of Ecuadorian tuna a week from our study, with its average mercury content of .75 ppm, would have to weigh more than 800 pounds to stay below the EPA reference dose.
- A woman weighing 140 pounds eating two cans (12 ounces) of Ecuadorian tuna a week from our study would ingest six times the EPA's reference dose.
These findings are based on independent research and the testing commissioned by Defenders of Wildlife and released in "Is Our Tuna ‘Family Safe'?".
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