Spacing fish meals out over time prevents the contaminants from building up to harmful levels in the body. This meal advice is equally protective for larger people who eat larger meals and smaller people who eat smaller meals. Women should follow the fish consumption advice given to pregnant and nursing women for several years before becoming pregnant. It takes up to six years or more for the body to get rid of PCBs, and up to one year to get rid of mercury. In high amounts, mercury can cause severe mental and physical retardation in a baby.
Lower amounts can delay walking and talking, and can cause other effects such as learning deficits.
Exposure to PCBs is linked to infant development problems in children whose mothers were exposed to PCBs before becoming pregnant. Men Men face fewer health risks from contaminants. However, they should also follow the advisory to reduce their total exposure to contaminants. It is the total number of meals that you eat during the year that becomes important, and many of those meals can be eaten during a few months of the year. Animal studies show that mercury can damage sperm, which could result in fertility problems.