Mercury Is On the Rise

Did you ever do that experiment in high school where the teacher would break open a thermometer and let you push around the balls of mercury? Ah, the good old days.

Today, scientists are uncovering a host of health issues related to mercury contamination - including attributing the rise in autistic kids (1 in 150 is now diagnosed) to environmental toxins, such as mercury.

So - I started to do some research to find where I might be getting my mercury from. The biggie for me is fish. Here's a nifty calculator to figure out the amount of mercury you might be getting from your sushi: http://www.mercuryexposure.org/index.php?page_id=36.

General rule of thumb is to eat fish lower on the food chain - salmon, rainbow trout, oysters, striped bass (farmed), pollock, flounder, sole, Alaskan king crab, perch, clams, scallops, shrimp, catfish, haddock and tilapia are all good to eat. These fish typically have loads of healthy Omega-3s and Selenium and piddly mercury levels. Canned tuna is saddled with mercury ... which saddens me because I just got this great wasabi canola mayonnaise that would make for excellent tuna sammies.

I also discovered this list of Sources of Mercury on www.mercuryexposure.org.
Here are some highlights:

Flu vaccines (you can ask for a mercury-free flu shot): http://www.vaccinesafety.edu/thi-table.htm
Latex paint
Laxatives
Mascara (a lot of cosmetics were on the list, but no brands ... further research needs to be done on this one)
Tattoo pigments
Cleaning solvents, including: Ajax, Comet, Lysol Direct, Soft Scrub, Dove soap, Ivory and Joy dishwashing liquid, Liquid Murphy's Oil Soap. (I have no doubt at least one of these products is in our cabinet).