Mercury blood test -- time to cut back on the tuna

[readalot]

So my guilty pleasure is typically 2 cans of yellowfin tuna in olive oil per day. This one is definitely the best tasting....



Yeah, that's a lot of tuna when compared to the recommendations to limit to a few cans a week. So I decided to run the mercury blood test through Quest which will pick up methyl mercury in my bloodstream from the tuna via ICP-MS.

Drumroll...

Spoiler: Test result

.....

Nice of Quest to do repeat measurement.


Hopefully won't die tomorrow (haha) but definitely time to cut back. I've been enjoying the tuna for quite a while now so I should have done this sooner. I'll have to up the sardines/herring which are already at a couple cans per day.

Caution if you enjoy alot of tuna. Note the elimination half life of methyl mercury in the body roughly 50 days so it's going to be a while to drop these levels.

Quest Diagnostics: Test Directory

testdirectory.questdiagnostics.com

Biomonitoring Summary | CDC

CDC’s Division of Laboratory Sciences coordinates the National Biomonitoring Program (NBP) which offers an assessment of nutritional status and the exposure of the U.S. population to environmental chemicals and toxic substances.

www.cdc.gov

https://neurology.testcatalog.org/show/HG

 

[readalot]

Overconfidence...

Breakfast

How ya fuckin doin’ Just ate my breakfast: 6 hard boiled eggs, 2 Greek yogurts, 2 bananas, bowl of oatmeal, canned string beans and a cup of Joe. Let me hear what everyone’s breakfast was this morning.

thinksteroids.com

Mea culpa

Note my back of the envelope here:

The harm reduction question...

Still just crickets... Guessing substance ID and purity percentage, right? Assuming a vendor tests raws and gets back, for example, 90% purity, you’re ok with the vendor adjusting the raws used in the brew so that the final oil reaches the advertised mg/ml dose? That’s the only thing that...

thinksteroids.com

These cans are loaded with Hg. I weigh 250 lb.

Mercury

www.questdiagnostics.com

 

[Fattyone]

I always wondered about this. A lot of younger people who are trying to do this on a budget seem to resort to canned tuna, or at least it seems that way.

You should try one can a day and retest in like a year, or what ever the math on that half life is lol

 

[readalot]

Labcorp's comments on ref range:

085324: Mercury, Whole Blood | Labcorp

Labcorp test details for Mercury, Whole Blood

www.labcorp.com

They always seem to put in a little more effort than Quest on the Test descriptions and info.

Reference Interval
• Environmental exposure: 0.0−14.9 μg/L, individuals consuming large quantities of seafood may have values as high as 200.0 μg/L

• Occupational exposure: BEI®: inorganic mercury (sampling time is end of shift at end of work week): 15.0 μg/L1

 

[amazonas]

I've been doing a can of tuna a day since 2022 and I'm also very worried about this. The problem is this test costs like 300$ where I live.

 

[readalot]

I've been doing a can of tuna a day since 2022 and I'm also very worried about this. The problem is this test costs like 300$ where I live.

Damn, sorry man. I paid 40 usd through ulta labs after the 20% coupon.

https://www.ultalabtests.com/test/mercury-blood

 

[readalot]

You should try one can a day and retest in like a year, or what ever the math on that half life is lol

Yeah about 250 days.

Damn it. I am already talking to myself as an addict..."26 mcg/l ain't that bad. Keep enjoying your tuna, it's good for you."

Curse you bodybuilding!

So much for the premium gourmet stuff. It ain't cheap.

 

[Werewolf Piss]

I always think about this. Was distance running and lifting and eating tuna everyday. I figured the mercury never left the body. Thanks for doing my research for me. (Now I eat canned chicken, McDonald's and sit on my ass)

 

[readalot]

I always think about this. Was distance running and lifting and eating tuna everyday. I figured the mercury never left the body. Thanks for doing my research for me. (Now I eat canned chicken, McDonald's and sit on my ass)

My pleasure.

Problem is it goes to the brain.

Mercury Toxicity and Neurogenesis in the Mammalian Brain

The mammalian brain is formed from billions of cells that include a wide array of neuronal and glial subtypes. Neural progenitor cells give rise to the vast majority of these cells during embryonic, fetal, and early postnatal developmental periods. The ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Mercury Exposure: Effects Across the Lifespan | The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences

PsychiatryOnline.org is the platform for all American Psychiatric Association Publishing journals, DSM, and bestselling textbooks, as well as APA Practice Guidelines, and continuing medical education.

neuro.psychiatryonline.org

Vulnerability to methylmercury poisoning is age-related, with susceptibility decreasing with increasing age. 2 Exposure to organic mercury compounds during gestation results in severe injury to the infant brain at dose levels below those that are toxic to the mother. 2 , 3 , 20 , 25 , 27 High exposure can result in very severe developmental disorders (e.g., mental retardation, cerebral palsy, blindness, deafness) ( Figure 3 ). 2 , 27 Symptoms of moderate exposure include psychomotor and personality disturbances, intellectual deficits, and epilepsy. Unlike the focal neuropathological changes that are found following adult exposure, prenatal and early childhood exposure results in very widespread changes including status spongiosus of the cerebral cortex ( Figure 3 ). 2 , 3 , 25 , 27 , 29

And for a time I thought low T was my issue. Nope, high Hg

Good thing I don't know how much microplastic I still have sitting around since the 90s.

 

[nightprowler7]

Thoughts on just switching to a different canned fish? Like mackerel or sardines?

Edit- never mind I read your entire post haha


I personally love mackerel. 26g protein a can

 

[nightprowler7]

Really eye opening seeing your test. I'll definitely be ordering one myself. I think the dangers of mercury are overlooked.

Thanks for posting your test results. There's a few I'll be including in my next bloodwork, but definitely this one.

 

[readalot]

Really eye opening seeing your test. I'll definitely be ordering one myself. I think the dangers of mercury are overlooked.

Thanks for posting your test results. There's a few I'll be including in my next bloodwork, but definitely this one.

Sure. My pleasure.

mackerel or sardines

Mercury Levels in Commercial Fish and Shellfish (1990-2012)

Mercury Levels in Commercial Fish and Shellfish from 1990-2012 by Species

www.fda.gov

I like mackerel as well but could be pretty high in mercury depending on fishing source.

I also eat 2 cans per day of herring but that may also be a loser....

The high diversity of arsenolipids in herring fillet (Clupea harengus) - PubMed

Arsenolipids represent a relevant step in the biosynthesis of organoarsenicals from inorganic arsenic compounds. Their fate after human consumption is still uncertain. By means of a HPLC-ICP-MS/ESI-Q-TOF-MS method, 16 lipid soluble arsenic compounds, including seven formerly unknown...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0045653515000776

Arsenic-Containing Phosphatidylcholines: A New Group of Arsenolipids Discovered in Herring Caviar - PubMed

A new group of arsenolipids based on cell-membrane phosphatidylcholines has been discovered in herring caviar (fish roe). A combination of HPLC with elemental and molecular mass spectrometry was used to identify five arsenic-containing phosphatidylcholines; the same technique applied to salmon...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

I knew I should have spent a little extra for the panel:

Mercury, arsenic, lead

Heavy Metals Panel, Blood

The Heavy Metals Panel, Blood Quest lab test contains 1 test with 4 biomarkers.

www.ultalabtests.com

At least there's still good ole RO water (maybe).

 

[readalot]

The other fave...typically 2 cans per day. Can't rule out this didn't contribute to above as well but should be much smaller contribution than tuna (gram for gram).



will update with arsenic blood work.

 

[readalot]

Always check your raws. Poisoning kids for a few bucks.

Lead-Tainted Applesauce Sailed Through Gaps in Food-Safety System

Hundreds of American children were poisoned last year. Records show how, time and again, the contamination went unnoticed.

www.nytimes.com

Factory never tested applesauce packets that were recalled due to lead poisonings, FDA finds

FDA testing found "extremely high levels of lead contamination" in the cinnamon applesauce pouches, which have been recalled.

www.cbsnews.com

Lead-tainted applesauce pouches also contained another possible toxic substance, FDA says

U.S. health officials say that recalled cinnamon applesauce pouches tied to lead poisoning in U.S. kids contained chromium, a chemical element that can be toxic.

apnews.com

Test your raws and test your products for impurities as well as purity/API content.

 

[Werewolf Piss]

My pleasure.

Problem is it goes to the brain.

Mercury Toxicity and Neurogenesis in the Mammalian Brain

The mammalian brain is formed from billions of cells that include a wide array of neuronal and glial subtypes. Neural progenitor cells give rise to the vast majority of these cells during embryonic, fetal, and early postnatal developmental periods. The ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Mercury Exposure: Effects Across the Lifespan | The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences

PsychiatryOnline.org is the platform for all American Psychiatric Association Publishing journals, DSM, and bestselling textbooks, as well as APA Practice Guidelines, and continuing medical education.

neuro.psychiatryonline.org

And for a time I thought low T was my issue. Nope, high Hg

Good thing I don't know how much microplastic I still have sitting around since the 90s.

I wonder if the mercury also is causing autism in young children.

 

[JC Grifter]

I’m glad you posted this. I’ve eaten two cans a day almost everyday for many years. I just sent a message to my doctor regarding bloodwork to measure mercury. Thanks brother

 

[BigTomJ]

just keep going until the mercury seeps into your bones and you turn into wolverine

 

[readalot]

just keep going until the mercury seeps into your bones and you turn into wolverine

https://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/cms/10.1176/jnp.2008.20.4.iv/asset/images/medium/alwinf3.jpeg

COVER and FIGURE 3. An entire family, including the pregnant mother, had several months of mercury exposure as a result of consuming a hog that had been fed seed grain treated with methylmercury fungicide. 2 The child exposed in utero was born mute, blind, severely mentally retarded, with quadriparesis, choreoathetosis, and seizures (died at age 21). The child exposed at 8 years of age also became mute, blind, with quadriparesis, choreoathetosis, and seizures (died at age 29). The child exposed at 13 years of age had cortical blindness, dysarthria, ataxia and deficits in attention and learning when examined at age 35. The child exposed at 20 years of age had loss of peripheral vision, poor hand coordination, and mild cognitive deficits when examined at age 42. The parents and two of the children (exposed at ages 9 and 16) were asymptomatic. Autopsy of the child exposed at 8 years found widespread cortical atrophy, thinning of the corpus callosum, and while matter shrinkage (upper panel). Microscopic examination (hematoxylin and eosin stain) of the paracentral cortex found diffuse status spongiosus in the deeper layers and gliosis with loss of neurons in the upper layers (lower panel, Annals of Neurology 1994; 35:684

 

[BigTomJ]

https://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/cms/10.1176/jnp.2008.20.4.iv/asset/images/medium/alwinf3.jpeg

Worth it to be an xmen