Don’t Eat The Sushi!

By Anastacia Mott Austin

Scientists from Rutgers University and the Robert John Medical School worked with The NewYork Times to reveal that 20 restaurants serving sushi in Manhattan were giving customers bluefin tuna that had alarmingly high levels of mercury.

Bluefin tuna contains higher levels of mercury than other types of tuna because it is a larger, longer-lived species, and therefore has more time to accumulate mercury in its tissues. Bluefin tuna, along with albacore and yellowfin, is a popular choice for sushi.

While no government agency regularly tests sushi for levels of metals or other contaminants, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does have recommendations that adults not consume more than 49 micrograms of mercury per week. The amounts found at most of the restaurants tested would exceed that amount at six pieces of bluefin tuna sushi.

Methylmercury, the type found in seafood, is a neurotoxin and can cause problems even at low-level exposure, such as increased blood pressure, risk of heart attack, and developmental delays in children.

And while Canada and most of Europe caps its limit on "safe" exposure to mercury at .5 parts per million, the United States deems 1.0 ppm safe for consumption. Ten out of 13 restaurants tested had tuna sushi that exceeded even the American standards of safety.

New Yorkers interviewed for the story had typical Manhattanite reactions. Sarah Barokas told The Times, "It’s something I enjoy. I don’t eat sushi every day, so in moderation is it really a problem? It sounds like one of those everyday things they tell us could be harmful. Last week, what was it, caffeine for pregnant women is harmful? That’s common sense."

Others declared that they would reduce their consumption, or change to another type of sushi fish. Some of the restaurants interviewed, like Nobu (whose sister restaurant, Nobu Next Door, had been tested), said they would switch to lower mercury level types of tuna, such as yellowfin or the virtually mercury-free kinai tuna.

An earlier study performed by The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (way to scoop the Times, guys!), showed similar results for local sushi tested in Milwaukee. Health and seafood experts maintain that most sushi-grade fish comes from the same place, so samples taken in other parts of the country would likely test similarly high in mercury.

The majority of methylmercury accumulates from coal-generated power plants and finds its way from there into the waterways.

Back in Manhattan, sushi lovers vowed to keep eating their favorite treat despite the warnings.

Retired teacher Roberta Berman had an even more cavalier attitude. "If I become iridescent from it, I become iridescent from it," said Berman to reporters. "I’ll glow in the dark."

Maybe Ms. Berman had already suffered neurotoxic damage from the mercury, because high levels of mercury won’t make you glow but they might make you stupid.