Posted on: Friday, July 26, 2002

Tuna warning urged for pregnancy

By Larry Wheeler
Gannett News Service

BELTSVILLE, Md. — The government should tell pregnant women to limit their consumption of tuna because of concern that eating lots of the fish could expose an unborn baby's developing brain to possibly harmful mercury levels, scientific advisers recommended yesterday.

It is not clear how much tuna pregnant women should limit themselves to, the advisers said — perhaps two 6-ounce cans a week if that is the only fish they eat, or a single can if other seafood, which also can contain mercury, is on their diet.

The panel urged the Food and Drug Administration to quickly study what proportion of the mercury in a woman's diet comes from tuna so more precise advice can be given. In the interim, extra care was suggested.

"Nobody wants to tell people to stop eating tuna fish," said the panel chairman, Sanford Miller of Virginia Tech University. "We're trying to balance the very positive virtues of fish, including tuna fish, with the harms. It's a very hard balance to make."

The decision came at the conclusion of a three-day hearing prompted by complaints from environmental and consumer groups that the agency was not doing enough to protect women in their child-bearing years from exposure to mercury in tuna.

Fish is very nutritious, with certain types containing high levels of heart-healthy fats, plus fats important for fetal brain development.

But some species also harbor high amounts of mercury, a toxic metal that contaminates seafood and is believed most harmful to the growing brains of fetuses and young children. Typically, the largest fish contain the most mercury.

About 8 percent of U.S. women of childbearing age have enough mercury in their blood to be at risk. The National Academy of Sciences estimates that 60,000 newborns a year could be at risk of learning disabilities because of mercury their mothers absorbed during pregnancy.

Last year, the FDA warned pregnant women and women who may become pregnant to avoid eating shark, swordfish, tilefish and king mackerel — large, long-lived fish, like tuna, that eat smaller fish that may have mercury in their bodies. Even though the federal agency had planned to list tuna as a fish to avoid, it ultimately did not.

The Environmental Working Group brought this inconsistency to light earlier this year when it published revealing internal documents from the FDA obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

The decision to keep tuna off the advisory was made after FDA officials met with tuna industry representatives, said Mike Casey, a spokesman for the Environmental Working Group.

"It's a case of an agency getting too cozy with the regulated community," said Richard Wiles, a senior vice president of the environmental advocacy group.

Tuna industry officials contend no evidence exists that their product is harmful to the fetus of a pregnant woman and instead note that health studies show tuna has great nutritional value.

Randi Thomas, director of the U.S. Tuna Foundation, said she believes the current FDA warning is adequate because it advises pregnant women to consume no more than 12 ounces of canned fish per week.

"We always believe it's appropriate for the FDA to look at as much evidence as possible," Thomas added. "We will always support looking into this, doing the research and gathering the information."

The FDA's Food Advisory Committee reached a consensus yesterday that the agency's current mercury advisory is not founded on solid scientific evidence and that it needs to go back to develop an advisory that focuses on tuna and pregnant women, Wiles said.

"That is a big deal," he said.

Members of the House and Senate had written the FDA asking the agency to respond to criticism that it failed to develop adequate warning about tuna's potential dangers during pregnancy.

The committee's decision is only advisory, but Wiles said he is confident pressure from Congress and interest groups will propel the agency to act. FDA food safety chief Joseph Levitt could not say how quickly the agency would issue new consumer advice.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.