AR-News: (US) Actions to Protect Public Health/Sea Turtles

[Jill Kiesow]

>From: andy at seaturtles.org
>
>Dear Friends,
>
>We are writing to ask for your help on one or more of three important 
>mercury-in-seafood/sea turtle-related matters.  The first is a request 
>that you send a letter to the editor of your local paper (there is a 
>sample below) about the FDA’s latest mercury-in-seafood advisory. The FDA 
>has just issued an advisory that will threaten children and families from 
>mercury.  Let the papers know what you think about the FDA playing 
>politics with public health.
>
>The second is that you print out a “Got Mercury?” PDF document and post 
>one or more of them on bulletin boards in your community (café’s, grocery 
>stores or other community bulletin boards).  The document can be 
>downloaded from:
>http://www.seaturtles.org/pdf/mercurytearoffsign3.pdf
>or by visiting www.seaturtles.org and clicking the mercury, swordfish and 
>sea turtle campaign link on the home page.  The website www.gotmercury.org 
>allows seafood consumers to determine how much seafood is safe to eat, in 
>complete contradiction to the FDA’s advisory.
>
>And the third, in case you haven’t already done so, is to visit 
>www.seaturtles.org home page and send a letter to Safeway asking them to 
>warn customers in all of their stores about the dangers of mercury in 
>seafood, not just California stores.  Safeway must not continue to ignore 
>the public health threats posed by mercury in seafood!
>
>Every time we take an action surrounding mercury, we are protecting public 
>health and helping to reduce consumer demand of species caught in ways 
>that are killing sea turtles.
>
>If any of these items appeal to you, please read additional information 
>below and thank you for supporting the Sea Turtle Restoration Project’s 
>conservation efforts!
>
>If you do take action on the Got Mercury or if you send a letter to the 
>editor, please let us know!  It feeds our spirit, energy and motivation to 
>know we are working together in solidarity!
>
>Please call if you have any questions or comments.
>
>Best,
>
>Andy Peri
>Marine Species Campaigner
>Sea Turtle Restoration Project
>415 488  0370 x104
>
>PS Please be aware that we have just published 4 new or updated documents 
>on our website related to taking action to protect sea turtles.  The 
>documents include our new activist kit, our “Got Mercury?” bulletin board 
>poster, our new mercury fact sheet and our updated California grocery 
>store mercury warning sign survey.  They can be found at 
>www.seaturtles.org (click the mercury, swordfish and sea turtle campaign 
>link) or use this address to go there directly:
>http://www.seaturtles.org/prog_camp2.cfm?campaignID=20
>
>************************************************************************
>
>FDA Advisory Background Summary
>After years of feet dragging on producing an adequate warning regarding 
>mercury in seafood, the FDA has failed once again.  On Friday, March 19, 
>2004 the FDA released a new advisory on mercury in seafood.  The advisory 
>had the apparent purpose of protecting women and children from mercury in 
>seafood.  In the advisory, the FDA specifically states that it is OK to 
>eat 6 ounces of canned albacore tuna per week.  Based on the FDA’s own 
>data, this amount of albacore, on the average, would put many women and 
>all children significantly over the EPA’s safe level of mercury.
>
>The FDA indicates in its advisory that women of childbearing age can eat 
>12 ounces of a variety of fish.  They fail to be more specific further 
>endangering moms and young children.
>
>Several weeks ago, as many of you may have heard, STRP announced its 
>mercury calculator at www.gotmercury.org.  This mercury calculator allows 
>seafood consumers to determine the levels of mercury exposure they can 
>expect from eating a wide range of marine species.  You can test what your 
>exposure would be from eating the FDA’s recommended12 ounces of fish per 
>week by visiting this easy-to-use site.
>
>Below is a sample letter to the editor and our press release from last 
>week.  If you are able, please write a letter to the editor about the FDA 
>advisory.  Again, remember all of our efforts to increase awareness about 
>mercury in seafood are helping to protect the oceans by reducing consumer 
>demand for species that are threatening sea turtles.  Thank you very much 
>and please call if you have questions.
>
>Sample Letter to the Editor
>Dear Editor,
>
>I am very concerned that the FDA is recommending that women eat 6 ounces 
>of albacore tuna per week despite the fact that, on average, albacore 
>contains three times as much mercury as chunk light tuna.  Why is the FDA 
>unnecessarily recommending that women put themselves and their children at 
>risk?  A recent EPA report indicates that seafood consumption is 
>responsible for 630,000 babies per year being born with dangerously high 
>mercury levels in their bodies.  The FDA’s advisory is dangerous and 
>foolish public policy.
>
>Your name
>Address
>Phone number
>
>
>STRP Press Release from March 19, 2004
>New FDA Advisory Fails to Protect Seafood Consumers
>FDA’s Own Data Shows that New Advisory Puts Women, Children at Risk
>
>CONTACT:
>Andy Peri
>Sea Turtle Restoration Project
>Phone:  415-488-0370 x104
>Pager: 415-303-0000
>Email: andy at seaturtles.org
>www.seaturtles.org
>www.gotmercury.org
>
>San Francisco, CA­ According to its own data, the FDA’s new consumer 
>advisory released last Friday will actually put women and children at 
>serious risk from mercury poisoning. The FDA advisory specifically 
>suggests that it is safe “to eat up to 6 ounces of albacore tuna per week, 
>which, by its own data, is known to contain three times as much mercury on 
>average as chunk light tuna. Environmentalists are calling on the FDA to 
>remove albacore tuna from the list of safe seafood and to require warning 
>signs at seafood counters across the country.
>
>“It’s alarming that this new FDA advisory encourages mothers to continue 
>eating seafood with high mercury levels when there are plenty of low 
>mercury alternatives”, says Peri. “Albacore tuna should not be recommended 
>for women and children.”
>
>  According to the FDA’s own data a 115 pound women eating only 6 ounces 
> of albacore tuna would be 170% over what the EPA considers safe.  If more 
> fish were eaten that same week that contained moderate or high levels of 
> mercury, her mercury level would be much higher.
>
>“If my 55-pound son ate the recommended 6 ounces of albacore, he would be 
>exposed to 350% of what the EPA considers safe. How can the FDA issue 
>guidelines that seem to ignore the health of women and children, two of 
>the most vulnerable populations?” says Peri.
>
>A recent report by the EPA shows that one out of six children born in the 
>United States have blood mercury levels that are unsafe; this amounts to 
>630,000 children per year born with potential neurological damage.
>
>One part of the solution can now be found on the internet.  Consumers can 
>now calculate their own blood mercury levels by visiting an easy-to-use 
>mercury calculator at http://www.gotmercury.org.  The online mercury 
>calculator uses the FDA's own data to help consumers gauge their mercury 
>intake.
>
>Methylmercury­the organic form of mercury found in many species of fish­is 
>a potent neurotoxin that can cause nervous system and brain damage in 
>developing fetuses, infants, and young children. Mercury can cause hair 
>and memory loss, tremors, fatigue and other serious heath problems in 
>adults, too.
>
>Under Proposition 65 the State of California requires warning signs to be 
>posted in areas where mercury-contaminated fish is being sold but the 
>warning applies only to fish containing extremely high levels of 
>mercury.  There are no signs in the canned tuna sections in California and 
>there are no signs at all  in the other 49 states.
>
>“The FDA needs to require that signs be posted in all stores nationwide so 
>that consumers can be informed and make choices to protect their family’s 
>health.  One way they could protect themselves is if the FDA distinguished 
>between low-mercury, sustainably troll caught albacore tuna and those 
>caught by longlines”, says Peri.
>
>The Sea Turtle Restoration Project is a California-based marine 
>conservation organization that works to protect sea turtles and other 
>marine species nationally and internationally. Many seafood species that 
>are high in mercury are caught using longline fishing methods that kill 
>large numbers of sea turtles every year.  We work to help consumers find 
>ways to protect their own health by eating species low in mercury (see 
>www.gotmercury.org) and, at the same time, by not eating fish such as 
>swordfish, the capture of which is responsible for pushing sea turtles to 
>the brink of extinction.  For more information about sea turtles and the 
>Sea Turtle Restoration Project, please visit: http://www.seaturtles.org
>
>For more information on mercury in seafood and marine species protection, 
>please visit the Sea Turtle Restoration Project website 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