With mercury drop, tuna becomes safer than ever
As per the recent studies, it has been brought to light that due to the reduction in the mercury emissions from the factories, a drop has been witnessed in the mercury levels of one tuna species.
Mercury, a very harmful chemical when mixed in water, tends to concentrate in fish and shellfish. It is accumulated by them in the form of methylmercury, a much harmful version of the chemical.
That is the reason why it was regularly advised by experts to consume less fish, especially tuna - regarded to be the most serious, due to its long living capacity and also high demand in seafood category.
Mercury has the tendency to bioaccumulate in human beings, therefore bioaccumulation in seafood happens to be carried forward in human population too. This further has great chances to damage the central nervous system.
In the recent times, Asia has increased the amount of coal burning which has given a rise to the mercury emissions on the global level. Though, according to researchers, North America has shown a degradation of 2.8 percent in the years 1990 and 2007.
It was also noticed by the experts that the mercury in the North Atlantic Ocean dropped 4.3% periodically. The presence of the hazardous chemical was also reduced in the air by around 20%, above the same water body.
Nearly 1300 Atlantic bluefin tuna that was caught between 2004 and 2012 were particularly used to monitor the impact of the chemical drop in the water and air. The team of experts analysed the tissue samples of the fish to check the reaction of the mercury drop on this species.
As per the news release by American Chemical Society, it was revealed that on an average, around 19% reduction was seen in mercury levels in tuna fish. That might come as a good news for seafood lovers.
Foodies can now get a sigh of comfort for a while and enjoy the seafood with fewer worries and lesser negative after-effects of the meal.
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