A new study ranking exposure risks from methylmercury finds that tuna accounts for over one third of total mercury exposure from seafood consumption in the United States.

"Canned tuna is the number one fish product consumed in the US today at just under three pounds per capita per year," said Michael Bender, director of the Mercury Policy Project. "Based on these new findings, tuna is also the number one mercury exposure risk."

These findings were published in a paper by Dr Edward Groth III and appeared in the April 2010 issue of Environmental Research.

Tuna contributes 37 per cent of the total mercury in the seafood supply -- almost six times as much as the combined total of the four highest mercury-laden fish: swordfish, shark, king mackerel and Gulf tilefish, according to the study.

"Eating tuna can be a toxic gamble, especially for pregnant women, mothers, babies and children," said Buffy Martin Tarbox, Campaign Coordinator for GotMercury.org, based in Forest Knolls, CA.

Groth's paper says that for anyone who eats fish twice a week or more -- not just mothers-to-be -- choosing low-mercury fish is an important health strategy.

"Unfortunately," Groth notes, "most consumers have no idea which fish are high in mercury and should be avoided, or which are low in mercury and are safe to consume."

Groth's study also found that two-thirds of the seafood supply and nine of the 11 most consumed fish and shellfish are low or very low in mercury.

Source: Mercury Policy Project