HWN Suggests

How Plastic In The Ocean Is Contaminating Your Seafood

We've long known that the fish we eat are exposed to toxic chemicals in the rivers, bays and oceans they inhabit. The substance that's gotten the most attention — because it has shown up at disturbingly high levels in some fish — is mercury.

But mercury is just one of a slew of synthetic and organic pollutants that fish can ingest and absorb into their tissue. Sometimes it's because we're dumping chemicals right into the ocean. But as a study published recently in Nature, Scientific Reports helps illuminate, sometimes fish get chemicals from the plastic debris they ingest.

"The ocean is basically a toilet bowl for all of our chemical pollutants and waste in general," says Chelsea…

read full article

Featured

 Can Eating Too Much Tuna Give You Mercury Poisoning?

It's the go-to "healthy" meal for uni students and gym bros alike. But how much tuna is too much? And how real is the risk of mercury toxicity?

 Is Plastic Waste Poisoning Our Seafood?

The massive amounts of plastic trash in marine environments may be leading to toxic metals entering the food chain.

 Not All Fish Puts You at Risk of Mercury Poisoning

If you’ve ever eaten sushi, you may be familiar with rumors and rumblings about how eating too much can give you mercury poisoning. Pregnant women are typically advised to steer clear of any spicy tuna roll cravings because. It has to be dangerous to eat too much of a certain kind of fish, right? Well, sort of. Mercury poisoning, and fear of it, is laced with misconceptions, in part because the metal comes in different forms and thus, has different modes of poisoning someone.

 Seafood Poisoning and Toxidromes

Federal and statewide regulations have resulted in the frequent monitoring of potential outbreaks of seafood toxins in the United States. As a result, exposures to seafood toxins by the general public have substantially decreased. As global warming will contribute to worsening toxic-producing algae blooms and recreational fishing and consumption of fish in coastal communities remains popular, the emergency provider and/or toxicologist must remain attuned to the multiple toxidromes associated with seafood ingestions.

 Some Fish Are Still Full of Mercury, for a Worrying Reason

Emissions of mercury have declined, but levels in fish could still increase thanks to overfishing and a changing climate.

 The Fish Diseases

Caused by consuming fish which have not been properly refrigerated after being caught. Poor refrigeration leads to bacterial overgrowth in the fish capable of decarboxylating histidine into histamine. Histamine builds up in the fish over time, and post ingestion gives the histaminergic symptoms described above. Foods with histamine concentrations exceeding 50mg/100g of food are considered to be hazardous. Accumulation of histamine oftentimes happens before the fish becomes "spoiled" and thus is approved for consumption. Scombroid is associated with swiss cheese because it is thought the raw milk used in the production of the cheese can be contaminated with the same bacteria able to produce histamine from histidine. Histamine is NOT destroyed when cooking the fish.

 The Frightening Spread of Toxic Algae

Toxic algae is one of the quickest-spreading deadly effects of the climate crisis in the United States. As the Arctic’s glaciers melt and the Amazon’s rainforest burns, America’s lakes, rivers, and coastlines are being increasingly infiltrated by several different types of brightly colored, toxic algae bacterium that thrive in warm, nutrient-rich conditions.

 There’s Something Fishy Going On

Going fishing and/or eating fish is a common activity. But did you know that certain fish can cause poisonings in humans? Today we will learn about three illnesses caused by eating fish, as well as four types of fish that have venom that can be released if they pierce someone.

Articles of Interest

Fish Poisoning More Common Than Believed

Ciguatera (pronounced sig-WAH-terra) is produced by algae that grow in warm water, and there is a risk of it spreading north as ocean waters warm, said Elizabeth G. Radke, an epidemiologist at the University of Florida’s Emerging Pathogens Institute and the lead author of the study. The poison is picked up by coral reef fish that eat vegetation and concentrates in larger carnivorous fish that eat them. The highest levels are found in barracuda, but it is also found in grouper, amberjack, hogfish, snapper, mackerel and mahi-mahi. Neither cooking nor freezing affects the toxin.

Food Poisoning from Marine Toxins

Poisoning from ingested marine toxins is an underrecognized hazard for travelers, particularly in the tropics and subtropics. Furthermore, the risk is increasing because of climate change, coral reef damage, and spread of toxic algal blooms.

How to Tell If You're Poisoning Yourself With Fish

Scientists have assured me that one serving of halibut contains nowhere near a dosage that might cause harm. These are the same scientists, though, who admit that no one knows for sure what the threshold dose is that causes mercury to subtly poison cells in the brain and the liver, two organs where it tends to accumulate.

Mercury In Fish More Dangerous Than Believed; Scientists Urge For Effective Treaty Ahead Of UN Talks (Report)

Scientists say that consuming fish may be more hazardous to your health than you think, according to new reports published this week.

Sexually Transmitted Food Poisoning? A Fish Toxin Could Be To Blame

So what can you do avoid this nasty toxin? Don't order the red snapper or grouper caught in areas associated with ciguatera outbreaks, she recommends. "You can't detect the toxin by smell or sight. So you really don't know when you're eating it." Plus, you can't cook, clean or freeze the toxin away from the fish. "That's what's so frustrating about the illness," she says. "It doesn't occur because of improper cooking, storing or fish handling."

What is mercury poisoning?

The organic mercury is what gets into the food chain. It's put into the water by chemical plants that are manufacturing things and they get into shellfish and fish, or elemental mercury that gets into the water is changed into organic mercury by sea life; we eat fish or shellfish and we get mercury exposure. That organic mercury acts very similarly to the elemental form. It affects a lot of nervous system damage.

7 Toxic Seafood Chemicals That You Don't Know About

Since the smell test doesn't really cut it, we decided to investigate the chemicals in seafood that you might not know about. We all know that mercury is often found in fish and are careful about our mercury consumption but did you know about the presence of pesticides, flame retardants or arsenic in the world's seafood?

Mercury levels in surface ocean have tripled

Even with these data, researchers still can’t ascertain the impact of rising levels of mercury on marine fish, and on the people who consume them, Lamborg notes. That’s because scientists still don’t know precisely how inorganic mercury transforms into toxic methylmercury.

Scombrotoxin Poisoning and Decomposition

Scombroid poisoning is a type of food intoxication caused by the consumption of scombroid and scombroid-like marine fish species that have begun to spoil with the growth of particular types of food bacteria. Fish most commonly involved are members of the Scombridae family (tunas and mackerels), and a few non-scombroid relatives (bluefish, dolphin or mahi-mahi, and amberjacks).

To die for?

You needn't go all the way to Japan to eat scary fish. The most timid looking bivalve can do you serious harm if you can't be sure what it had for dinner. Toxins found in certain plankton can cause rare but potentially fatal paralytic shellfish poisoning. And don't go thinking that sticking to big fish such as tuna will exempt you totally; death from scombroid poisoning, caused by an affliction that can affect reef-dwelling fish, is rare but not unheard of. Cooking the fish does not destroy the toxin responsible. Diners at risk may only notice a slight peppery taste to the fish (tell the chef to hold the capsicum).

Resources

Harmful Algae

The consumption of shellfish (e.g. mussels, clams) is one of the most common ways for algal toxins to impact human health.

Johns Hopkins Medicine

At certain times of the year, various species of fish and shellfish contain poisonous biotoxins, even if well cooked. According to the CDC, it is considered an under-recognized risk for travelers, specifically in the tropics and subtropics.

MedlinePlus

The most common of these are Ciguatera poisoning, Scombroid poisoning, and various shellfish poisonings.