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BRUSSELS
(Reuters 3/17/04)
- Pregnant women should
limit consumption of swordfish and tuna due to high mercury
levels which can cause brain damage in unborn children, the EU's
food safety authority said on Thursday
Pollution causes
the toxic metal mercury to accumulate in fish and seafood, in
the form of methylmercury. The European Union's food safety
authority (EFSA) said consumers were close to reaching safe
intake levels for the toxin.
"EFSA recommends
that women of childbearing age...select fish from a wide range
of species, without giving undue preference to large predatory
fish such as swordfish and tuna," it said in a statement.
"Above safe
levels of intake, methylmercury is particularly toxic to the
nervous system and developing brain," added Josef Schlatter,
chair of the EFSA scientific panel on contaminants in the food
chain.
"Exposure during
pregnancy and early infancy is therefore of particular concern."
EFSA said
further dietary studies should be carried out among vulnerable
population groups, including children and women of child-bearing
age, as specific intake data were lacking.
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