San Francisco to Vote on
Mercury in Fish Warning Signs; Public Health Groups Say Signs Will Protect
Consumers from Mercury in Seafood
April 05, 2010 By Sea Turtle Restoration Project
San Francisco San Francisco will consider a mercury in seafood warning sign
ordinance today. The multilingual ordinance will improve public health by
educating seafood consumers about dangerous mercury exposure from fish. The City
Operations and Neighborhood Services Committee will hear the ordinance at 1:00
pm.m (PST) on Monday, October 3, 2005, San Francisco City Hall in room 263. The
first of its kind in the country, the ordinance would require mercury warning
signs in English, Spanish and Chinese in the city and county of San Francisco.
Additionally, if passed, the Department of Public Health would be empowered to
provide greater enforcement of Californiašs law requiring warning signs where
seafood is sold.
"San Francisco's ordinance is a groundbreaking initiative that should be
replicated across California and nationwide," said Eli Saddler, a public health
specialist and attorney for
GotMercury.org and the Turtle Island Restoration Network. "More consumers
will protect their families from the dangers of eating fish contaminated with
mercury by educating people in three languages and by strengthening enforcement
of the Prop 65, which requires warning signs."
Proposition 65 is a California consumer right-to-know law that requires
businesses selling products known to cause cancer, birth defects, or other
reproductive harm to notify customers. Turtle Island Restoration Network and the
As You Sow Foundation filed the original notice of intent to sue supermarkets
and restaurants for failure to post Prop 65 warnings in 2002. Currently,
California's Attorney General took over the lawsuit against major grocery
chains, such as Safeway, because of their failure to comply with mercury in
seafood warning sign requirements. California's mercury in seafood warning signs
are based on the March 2004 FDA and EPA advisory on methylmercury in fish.
However, the FDAšs former head attempted to halt California's lawsuit to enforce
Proposition 65.
Mercury in seafood is a significant public health hazard because all fish are
contaminated with mercury to some degree and many people are unaware of the
hazards to their families. A recent study of swordfish in the United States
found that about half exceeded the 1 ppm safety levels set by the FDA. A study
by the Turtle Island Restoration Network also showed that mercury levels in
swordfish were significantly higher on average than what the FDA reports.
The Mercury Education and Response Campaign of Turtle Island Restoration Network
has been monitoring stores in California to determine compliance with Prop 65
mercury warning sign requirements. Recent data shows that the majority of stores
are not adequately posting signs. Statewide, about 70 percent of supermarkets,
including Safeway, Whole Foods and others are failing to properly notify
customers about mercury in fish.
"I personally visited every Safeway store in San Francisco and found that almost
none of the stores adequately warned their customers. We applaud San Franciscošs
action to protect its citizens by requiring multilingual signs and enforcing
better compliance. This is the right thing to do," said Eli Saddler, a public
health specialist and attorney with Turtle Island. He continued, "Gotmercury.org
and Oceana called upon major grocery store chains, like Safeway, to place
similar signs in all their stores nationwide last week in the New York Times."
Todd Steiner, executive director of Turtle Island, said, "This is a simple and
inexpensive way to give the public the information they need to make informed
decisions to protect their own health and the health of their families. TIRN is
prepared to provide free signage in all three languages to supermarkets and
restaurants who ask us for it."
Methylmercury (the organic form of mercury found in all seafood) is a potent
neurotoxin that can cause nervous system and brain damage in developing fetuses,
infants and young children. According to the EPA, one in six women of
childbearing age in the United States has unsafe blood levels of mercury. This
translates to potentially 630,000 babies at risk of mercury exposure in the womb
in the United States annually. Yet the FDA estimates that between one third and
half of women are unaware of the risk. Methylmercury also causes neurological
damage, cardiac disease and other birth defects. Human mercury comes primarily
from the consumption of mercury-contaminated seafood.
Mercury contamination of seafood is an ongoing public health threat. The FDA
warns pregnant women to "protect your unborn child by not eating these large
fish that can contain high levels of methylmercury: shark, swordfish, king
mackerel and tilefish." Furthermore, the California Attorney's General mercury
warning sign states that women of childbearing age should also "limit their
consumption of other fish, including fresh or frozen tuna." (bold text in
original). The Attorney General's web site is at
http://caag.state.ca.us.
Turtle Island has created an online calculator in both English and Spanish for
consumers to estimate their own mercury exposure from eating seafood by visiting
www.GotMercury.org. Turtle Island aims to make this valuable tool available
in additional languages in the near future.
Available Resources 1. Consumers can calculate their own
mercury exposure from eating seafood by visiting www.gotmercury.org.
2. B-roll
3. Electronic Press Kit available at
www.seaturtles.org/prog_camp2.cfm?campaignID=20./a>
4. Interviews with mercury poisoned women and children available.
5. Mercury in swordfish report at
www.seaturtles.org/press_release2.cfm?pressID=227.
6. FDA and EPA Consumer Advisory on Methylmercury in Fish at
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/admehg3.html.
About GotMercury.org
GotMercury.org is part of the Mercury Education and Response Campaign (MERC)
of Turtle Island Restoration Network (TIRN). TIRN is a California-based marine
conservation and public health advocacy organization that works to protect sea
turtles and other marine species in the United States and in countries around
the world while protecting the public mercury in seafood. For more information
about sea turtles and the Sea Turtle Restoration Project, please visit
www.seaturtles.org.
For more information on mercury in seafood and marine species protection please
visit the TIRN website at by visiting
www.seaturtles.org and clicking on Program and Campaigns then Mercury,
Swordfish and Sea Turtles Campaigns or visit
http://www.seaturtles.org/prog_camp2.cfm?campaignID=20 .
Contact
Eli Saddler, JD, MPH, MA
Mercury Response & Education Campaign
Turtle Island Restoration Network
PO Box 400
Forest Knolls, CA 94933
Phone: 415-488-0370 ext. 104
Cellular: 415-342-7497
Email: eli@gotmercury.org