29 October 2024

Mercury contamination: BLOOM exposes a health scandal on an unprecedented scale
29 October 2024
Mercury in every tin of tuna: that’s the alarming discovery the NGO BLOOM made when it analysed almost 150 tins taken from five European countries. Considered by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to be one of the ten chemical substances of greatest concern for public health worldwide, on a par with asbestos and arsenic, this neurotoxin poses serious risks to the human body[1]. After 18 months of investigation, BLOOM reveals in an exclusive report how, since the 1970s, the public authorities and the powerful tuna lobby have knowingly chosen to favour the economic interests of industrial tuna fishing to the detriment of the health of over hundreds of million tuna consumers in Europe. This cynical lobbying has resulted in the setting of an “acceptable” mercury threshold three times higher for tuna than for other fish species such as cod, without there being the slightest health justification for a different threshold[2]. The maximum permitted level of mercury in tuna has not been set arbitrarily: it corresponds to the highest levels of contamination in the fish. In other words, the danger threshold was not set to protect human health, but solely to protect the financial interests of the tuna industry. The thresholds, as set by the public authorities in collusion with the tuna lobby, are leading to widespread contamination of the population, with potentially serious health consequences [3-8].
Mercury, an extremely dangerous poison
First of all, we need to remember that mercury, whose global emissions have risen sharply over the last two centuries, is found in large quantities in the ocean. It accumulates in fish in its most toxic form, methylmercury, ending up on the shelves and then on the plates of millions of families. As a predator at the top of the food chain, tuna accumulate heavy metals from their prey, resulting in a great increase in mercury contamination compared with smaller species[9].
Tuna is the best-selling fish in Europe[10]. Yet regular ingestion of methylmercury – even in small quantities – represents a serious health hazard, particularly (but not exclusively) for the brain development of foetuses and young children[3-8].
100% of tins tested by BLOOM are contaminated with mercury
BLOOM randomly selected 148 tins from five European countries (England, Germany, Italy, France and Spain) and had them tested by an independent laboratory: 100% of the cans were contaminated with mercury. More than one in two tins tested (57%) exceeded the strictest maximum mercury limit defined for fish in the European Union (0.3 mg/kg). Of the 148 tins, a tin from the Petit Navire brand bought in a Paris Carrefour City store had a record level of 3.9 mg/kg, i.e. 13 times higher than the level for species subject to the most restrictive limit of 0.3 mg/kg. Because of the dangers posed by regular ingestion of mercury, even in small doses, all tins exceeding the 0.3 mg/kg limit should be banned from sale. This is not the case.
Bogus health standards to maximise sales of contaminated products
BLOOM has analysed a hundred of official documents from the international bodies responsible for health standards (joint FAO-WHO committee, European Commission, European Food Safety Authority ….) concerning mercury. Our investigation reveals that no method that takes into account the health consequences for adults and children is used to define maximum mercury levels in tuna. On the contrary, the European public authorities have chosen an approach that is completely at odds with their duty to protect public health: they use the actual mercury contamination of the tuna to establish a threshold that ensures that 95% of them can be sold. This is why tuna, one of the most contaminated species, has a maximum mercury tolerance three times higher than that of the least contaminated species (1 mg/kg compared with 0.3 mg/kg for cod, for example). There is no health reason for this discrepancy: mercury is no less toxic if ingested via tuna.
“Mercury is a powerful neurotoxin that binds to the brain and is very difficult to get rid of. Everyone knows that, explains Julie Guterman, a researcher at BLOOM and the main author of the survey. I found it hard to believe that industrialists and politicians could knowingly choose criminal cynicism, but I had to face the facts. Having acted upstream on regulatory thresholds, this means that manufacturers and retailers can now sell contaminated products legally. Letting people believe that eating tuna is safe from a health point of view is an unforgivable lie with serious consequences“.
Rare and ineffective controls
Contrary to the vigilance that such a health issue should require, there are virtually no controls on the tuna production and marketing chain. In the Seychelles, the nerve centre of tuna fishing for the European market, the health authorities only have to carry out ten or so tests each year to guarantee the compliance of millions of kilos of tuna sent to Europe[12]! The situation does not improve once the tuna arrives in Europe. Once it lands in France, for example, to our knowledge, fewer than fifty fresh tuna are sampled each year by the public authorities, and no tinned fish is tested [13].
“What’s important to remember, says Julie Guterman, is that in Europe, tuna is mainly eaten in tins. However, to our knowledge, since 2023 a major importer like France does not carry out any checks on the contamination of tinned tuna: not even one check a year. The public authorities are not even trying to hide their complicity with the tuna industry. They have given industrial fishermen and major retail chains a licence to contaminate“.
Finally, as the few controls that do exist are based on a standard set to be unsurpassable, the number of tests with non-compliant levels of contamination is logically too low to arouse the slightest concern from the authorities. A further smokescreen to reinforce the misleading impression of safety.
This BLOOM investigation is part of the “TunaGate” series, which has established the ecological criminality and numerous human rights violations attributable to the tuna industry.
In order to put an end to this scandal that massively exposes hundreds of millions of tuna consumers, BLOOM and foodwatch are mobilising citizens to demand action from both public authorities and major retailers. The two associations urge public authorities to implement the following emergency measures:
- The European Commission must adopt a conservative threshold for tuna (fresh and canned), by aligning it with the strictest limit set for other species: 0.3 mg/kg. Given tuna’s popularity as Europe’s most-consumed fish, it warrants even regulation;
- Member States should invoke safeguard clauses to immediately prohibit the sale of tuna products containing mercury levels above 0.3 mg/kg within their borders;
- Governments and communities must safeguard vulnerable populations by banning tuna-based products from school canteens, daycare centers, retirement homes, maternity wards, and hospitals.
Additionally, BLOOM and foodwatch have launched an international petition targeting ten of the largest European retailers, including: Carrefour, Intermarché and Leclerc in France; Carrefour, Mercadona and Lidl in Spain; Conad, Coop and Esselunga in Italy; Edeka, Rewe and Aldi in Germany. The NGOs are calling on these supermarket chains to assume responsibility for consumer health, demanding:.
- Rigorous controls and an immediate ban on tuna products with mercury levels above 0.3 mg/kg, instead of the current 1 mg/kg standard;
- A halt to all advertising and promotion of tuna products;
- Clear labeling on tuna products, both in stores and online, to inform consumers of the health risks associated with mercury contamination.
Previous BLOOM investigations into the tuna industry (Tuna Gate) :
- The E.U. under the rule of tuna lobbies, Unprecedented revelations about the domination of tuna lobbies and the complicity of public authorities in the plundering of African waters. January 2023
- Eyes wide shut, Available statistics show that the French government performs no control over its fleets in Africa. October 2023
- Tuna war games, story of the fatal technological race against tuna and marine life. April 2023
- Canned brutality, Brutality and human rights violations in the tuna industry. May 2023
- The death label, The MSC: falsely sustainable but actually destructive to tuna populations. September 2023
SOURCES :
[1] WHO Mercury https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mercury-and-health
[2]Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915 of 25 April 2023 on maximum levels for certain contaminants in food and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 (Text with EEA relevance) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32023R0915
[3] EFSA (2012) Scientific Opinion on the Risk for Public Health Related to the Presence of Mercury and Methylmercury in Food, pagine da 81 a 125, https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2012.2985
[4] Jacobson et al. (2015) Relation of Prenatal Methylmercury Exposure from Environmental Sources to Childhood IQ https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1408554
[5] Freire et al. (2010) Hair Mercury Levels, Fish Consumption, and Cognitive Development in Preschool Children from Granada, Spain, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2009.10.005
[6] Yaginuma-Sakurai et al. (2010) Intervention Study on Cardiac Autonomic Nervous Effects of Methylmercury from Seafood https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ntt.2009.08.009
[7] Skalny et al. (2022) Mercury and Cancer: Where Are We Now after Two Decades of Research? https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2022.113001
[8] Bjørklund et al. (2019) Mercury Exposure and Its Effects on Fertility and Pregnancy Outcome https://doi.org/10.1111/bcpt.13264
[9] European Environment Agency. Mercury in Europe’s Environment: A Priority for European and Global Action https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/mercury-in-europe-s-environment
[10] European Commission. Directorate General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. et al. The EU fish market (2023) page 36 – More than 1 billion kilograms of tuna are sold each year in the EU, with an average annual consumption of about 3 kilograms of tuna per person: https://eumofa.eu/documents/20124/35668/EFM2023_EN.pdf
[11] France AgriMer (2023) Consommation des produits de la pêche et de l’aquaculture page 26 – in France, the average annual consumption of tuna is 4.9 kilos of tuna per person, in live weight equivalent https://www.franceagrimer.fr/fam/content/download/74190/document/BIL-MER-2024-CHIFFRES-CLES-2023.pdf?version=3
[12] European Commission (2011) Audit of the Seychelles regulatory authority https:// ec.europa.eu/food/audits-analysis/audit-report/details/2691
[13] Technical instructions from the French Food Directorate. On French territory : DGAL/SDPAL/2016-2, DGAL/SDPAL/2017-20, DGAL/SDPAL/2018-93, DGAL/ SDPAL/2019-81, DGAL/SDPAL/2020-71, DGAL/SDPAL/2021-113, DGAL/SDEIGIR/2022-28, DGAL/SDEIGIR/2023-311, DGAL/ SDEIGIR/2024-120 ; at border control checkpoints : DGAL/SDASEI/2020-11, DGAL/SDEIGIR/2021-986, DGAL/SDEIGIR/2023-311