MERCURY*
How Mercury Gets In To Your Body (including your brain).
Mercury is a heavy metal. It settles into human organs. This is precisely why it is difficult to diagnose and difficult, but not impossible, to remove.
If you have a "silver" amalgam filling, then you have mercury in your body. It is right there in your mouth.
If you eat fish, then you are taking in mercury.
If you breathe air in any industrialized nation, then you are likely breathing in some mercury as a by product of industrial pollution.
If you drink tap water from a water treatment facility, then you are likely drinking in some mercury.
If you are old enough to remember mercury thermometers, then you might have handled actual mercury if one of the thermometers broke. Mercury has unique properties which could make it an interesting "toy" for a child to play with. It seems to have a life of it's own when touched. It rolls around, it is shiny and silver, and it looks like a super toy.
While the government, via the EPA, has established mercury levels that they consider safe for human consumption and exposure, you must realize by now that these numbers are rather arbitrary. After all, how can the EPA know what any one person's total load of mercury is or will be. So the "safe" amount of mercury in a serving of water or fish is good to know if you are only ever going to eat or drink that one item. What about the person that drinks 3 liters of water a day vs. the person that drinks 1 liter. What about the person that eats ocean fish for lunch and dinner every day vs. the person that eats it two or three times a week. That's 14 servings vs. 3 servings. Now you are probably starting to get a picture of the total load. And, so the EPA does not know how much mercury is too much mercury for a person in a week, day, year, or lifetime. Any amount over and above the amount that your body can naturally eliminate is too much.
Do You Know Anyone That Eats Tuna Fish?
I am certainly not trying to single out tuna as being a "bad" fish or containing more or less mercury than any other fish. I am merely using tuna as an example here because so many people are familiar with tuna and either eat or serve tuna.
How much tuna (canned or fresh) have you eaten in your lifetime? So what good is it to know if the level is high, medium or low in Tuna. If you've eaten tuna once a week since you were 10 years old, then:
a 25 year old has eaten approx. 780 portions of tuna.
a 30 year old hs eaten approx. 1,040 portions of tuna.
a 40 year old has eaten approx. 1,530 portions of tuna.
a 50 year old has eaten approx. 2,080 portions of tuna.
a 65 year old has eaten approx. 3,380 portions of tuna.
-----------------
*This image (or other media) is a work of an Environmental Protection Agency employee, taken or made during the course of an employee's official duties. As works of the U.S. federal government, all EPA images are in the public domain.
