FDA/EPA Advisory on Seafood Consumption Still Current

In response to recent inquiries about the FDA/EPA consumer advisory, “What You Need to Know About Mercury in Fish and Shellfish,” FDA and EPA want to assure consumers that the advice contained in the 2004 advisory remains current and that FDA and EPA stand behind it. The advisory’s recommendations are specific to women who might become pregnant, women who are pregnant, nursing mothers, and young children.

Fish and shellfish are an important part of a healthy diet and can contribute to heart health and children’s proper growth and development. Because of their many healthy benefits we recommend that women and young children include them as a regular part of their diet. However, nearly all fish and shellfish contain traces of mercury.

By following 3 recommendations for selecting and eating fish or shellfish, women and young children will receive the benefits of eating fish and shellfish and be confident that they have reduced their exposure to the harmful effects of mercury.

• Do not eat Shark, Swordfish, King Mackerel, or Tilefish because they contain high levels of mercury.
• Eat up to 12 ounces (2 average meals) a week of a variety of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury.
  • Five of the most commonly eaten fish that are low in mercury are shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish.
  • Another commonly eaten fish, albacore (“white”) tuna has more mercury than canned light tuna. So, when choosing your two meals of fish and shellfish, you may eat up to 6 ounces (one average meal) of albacore tuna per week.
• Check local advisories about the safety of fish caught by family and friends in your local lakes, rivers, and coastal areas. If no advice is available eat up to 6 ounces (one average meal) per week of fish you catch from local waters, but don’t consume any other fish during that week.

Follow these same recommendations when feeding fish and shellfish to your young children but serve smaller portions.

FDA continues to test fish and shellfish for mercury. Should there be a significant change in the underlying science regarding the risks from methylmercury or the benefits from fish, FDA and EPA will update the advisory to ensure that the public is informed when making choices about the amounts and types of fish to eat.

The complete 2004 FDA/EPA advisory, “What You Need to Know About Mercury in Fish and Shellfish,” can be found at www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/admehg3.html.

The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Secondhand Smoke Exposure in the Home

• The home is the place where children are most exposed to secondhand smoke and a major location of secondhand smoke exposure for adults.
• Children who live in homes where smoking is allowed have higher levels of cotinine (a biological marker of secondhand smoke exposure) than children who live in homes where smoking is not allowed. As the number of cigarettes smoked in the home increases, children’s cotinine levels rise.
• Although secondhand smoke exposure among children has declined over the past 15 years, children remain more heavily exposed to secondhand smoke than adults.
  • Almost 60 percent of U.S. children aged 3-11 years—or almost 22 million children—are exposed to secondhand smoke.
  • About 25 percent of children aged 3-11 years live with at least one smoker, as compared to only about 7 percent of nonsmoking adults.

• Secondhand smoke exposure in the home has been consistently linked to a significant increase in both heart disease and lung cancer risk among adult nonsmokers.
• According to the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, the proportion of households with smoke-free home rules increased from 43 percent in 1992-93 to 66 percent in 2001-02.

The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Secondhand Smoke Exposure in the Workplace

• The workplace is a major source of secondhand smoke exposure for adults.
  
  
• Secondhand smoke exposure in the workplace has been linked to an increased risk for heart disease and lung cancer among adult nonsmokers.
  
  
• In 2001-02, about 30 percent of indoor workers in the United States were not covered by smoke-free workplace policies, down from 54 percent in 1992-93.
  
  
• According to HHS’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of June 1, 2006, 14 states have laws in effect that make private workplaces smoke-free. In addition, numerous employers and businesses have implemented voluntary smoke-free workplace policies.
  
  
• Blue collar and service employees are less likely than white collar indoor workers to be covered by smoke-free policies.
  
  
• Restaurant employees are far less likely than other workers to be protected by smoke-free workplace policies, more likely than other workers to have these policies violated where they do exist and are more likely to be exposed to high levels of secondhand smoke on the job. Only 43 percent of this population work under 100 percent smoke-free workplace policies. Only 28 percent of wait staff and 13 percent of bartenders work under such policies. As of 2002, over 6.6 million Americans worked in food preparation and service occupations. One in five workers in these occupations is a teen, 56 percent are women, almost 20 percent are Hispanic, and just under 12 percent are African American.
  
  
• The Surgeon General has concluded that smoke-free workplace policies are the only effective way to eliminate secondhand smoke exposure in the workplace. Separating smokers from nonsmokers, cleaning the air, and ventilating buildings cannot eliminate exposure.
  
  
• The Surgeon General has also concluded that workplace smoking restrictions lead to less smoking among covered workers.

• from 51 percent in Kentucky to 86 percent in Utah among residents aged 15 years and older.
• The Surgeon General has concluded that eliminating smoking in indoor spaces is the only way to fully protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke exposure. Separating smokers from nonsmokers, cleaning the air, and ventilating buildings cannot completely eliminate secondhand smoke exposure.