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"For fetuses, infants, and children, the primary health effect of methyl mercury is impaired neurological development. Methyl mercury exposure in the womb, which can result from a mother's consumption of fish and shellfish that contain methyl mercury, can adversely affect a baby's growing brain and nervous system. Impacts on cognitive thinking, memory, attention, language, and fine motor and visual spatial skills have been seen in children exposed to methyl mercury in the womb. Recent human biological monitoring by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1999 and 2000 shows that the majority of people have blood mercury levels below a level associated with possible health effects. Outbreaks of methyl mercury poisonings have made it clear that adults, children, and developing fetuses are at risk from ingestion exposure to methyl mercury. During these poisoning outbreak some mothers with no symptoms of nervous system damage gave birth to infants with severe disabilities, it became clear that the developing nervous system of the fetus may be more vulnerable to methyl mercury than is the adult nervous system." (Health Effects, 2007).
Other Risks
Fish may have bacteria, viruses, parasites and other disease causing organisms. Unfortunately, fish can pass directly from the fishermen to the consumers without being processed by a regulatory body. Of late there was an global breakout of SARS which spread with the chicken. If such a problem emerges with fish it would take a longer time to detect because fish are not as strictly regulated as chickens. Every commercial chicken farm needs to be registered with some regulatory body while it is not at all necessary for the fishermen to register themselves with any regulatory bodies in some cases.
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