Those scientists found that children who were exposed to mercury pre-natally had slight abnormalities in development at age seven. The Rochester scientists feel those findings may be relevant to people who eat whale meat but are not convinced they apply to people eating fish and not whale. Whale meat contains other toxins and pollutants, like PCBs, and is higher in mercury than fish. Another key difference is that a community often eats an entire whale in a short period of time, causing a spike in mercury levels that may affect the body differently than lower levels. The White House has organized a meeting for November where the two teams and other scientists are expected to discuss the varying results.
Scientists determine a person's exposure to mercury by measuring the content in a strand of hair.
By comparing these levels to the results of very sophisticated batteries of tests, scientists try to determine the lowest level that might be harmful. The scientists found no harm from mercury at levels up to 15 ppm, nearly twice the average Seychelles level and about 20 times higher than the average U.S. level. Scientists typically calculate how much mercury a person could ingest each day before bumping up into the danger zone, and then regulatory agencies issue advisories based on those numbers. In the past, using the WHO guideline, EPA has recommended that a person ingest no more than 30 micrograms of mercury per day. Based on estimates of U.S. fish consumption, FDA recommended that only commercial fish with less than 1 ppm of mercury be sold.