你和你的家人正在受魚(yú)類(lèi)的毒害嗎？這個(gè)基本的問(wèn)題是最近的舊金山一個(gè)人在質(zhì)疑自己。David Ewing Duncan，他是最近新出版的《實(shí)驗人》的作者，他將科學(xué)思想投入試驗探索到底吃一口魚(yú)他能同時(shí)吃下多少的水銀和其他的有毒物質(zhì)。他的實(shí)驗結果令人擔憂(yōu)。
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) insists that "most people's fish consumption does not cause a health concern." Still, the agency concedes that high levels of mercury in the bloodstream of unborn babies and young children may harm the developing nervous system. The agency advises women who are pregnant, nursing, or of childbearing age, and young children to limit their consumption of certain types of fish and avoid eating shark, swordfish, king mackerel, or tilefish altogether because they contain high levels of mercury.
環(huán)保署（EPA）堅決表明“大部分人消費的魚(yú)類(lèi)不會(huì )對健康帶來(lái)危害。”隨后，則讓步說(shuō)道對于未出生的和新生的孩子，血液中高含量的水銀可能對其神經(jīng)系統的發(fā)展造成影響。環(huán)保署則建議孕期的，哺育期的以及育齡期的女性和兒童應限于吃一些特定的魚(yú)類(lèi)，不要食用鯊魚(yú)，劍魚(yú)，大西洋馬鮫或者方頭魚(yú)等等，因為他們的肉質(zhì)有高含量的水銀。
The EPA's blood threshold for methylmercury, the most common form of mercury that accumulates in the body, is 5.8 µg/l (micrograms per liter.) To test his own levels of methylmercury, Duncan submitted blood and urine tests for lab analysis both before and after eating fish. In the "before" tests, Duncan registered a level of less than 4 µg/l, well within safe limits. A few days later, after eating halibut for lunch and swordfish for dinner, Duncan again submitted blood and urine tests for methylmercury analysis. This time, the lab work showed that his methylmercury level had spiked to 13 µg/l, well ABOVE the EPA's safe threshold. And considering that children have suffered losses in IQ at levels just slightly above 5.8 µg/l, the results are nothing if not unsettling.
環(huán)保署對于血液中甲基水銀的閾值是5.8 µg/l (毫克每升)，甲基水銀是我們體內水銀積累的常見(jiàn)形式。為了測得自己體內的甲基水銀的含量，Duncan在吃魚(yú)前后分別提交了血液和尿液的樣本用于實(shí)驗。在食用前測試中，Duncan的實(shí)驗記錄是小于4 µg/l，完全在安全范圍中。幾天以后，在他吃午餐吃大比目魚(yú)和晚餐吃了劍魚(yú)后，他又提交了血液和尿液的樣本測試甲基水銀。這次，實(shí)驗結果表明他體內的甲基水銀含量高達13 µg/l，完全超出環(huán)保署的安全閾值。這樣的結果除了令人不安也沒(méi)什么，可是要考慮到稍微超出閾值5.8 µg/l一點(diǎn)，那就會(huì )對孩子智商造成嚴重的影響
Time and time again, consumers are told that fish is a safe, healthy source of lean protein and fatty acids, but do the health benefits outweigh the toxin risk? One thing is certain, if you do choose to eat fish, choose those varieties that contain the least amount of mercury and limit your consumption to just a few servings a week.
消費者被一次次的告知，魚(yú)類(lèi)是安全的，富含健康的瘦蛋白和脂肪酸，但是這些健康物質(zhì)能夠有中毒危險嗎？有一件事是肯定的，就是如果你要吃魚(yú)，那就選擇幾類(lèi)水銀含量低的并且要控制每周吃魚(yú)的分量。
