Second Nature Care Blog

Is it Safe to Eat Fish?

[fa icon="calendar'] Mar 20, 2020 11:45:00 AM / by Isadora Guggenheim

Bunch of raw frozen fish on ice-1

I've written about a chemical called perfluorooctane sulfonic acid or PFOS used in oil and water resistant coating for pots and pans, clothes, paper, carpet and flame retardant foams.  It is associated with arthritis. This same chemical has been found in hundreds of samples of fish in the Great Lakes and rivers.  Is fish safe to eat?

Do you love to fish or eat fish?  If you are eating bass, trout, walleye and catfish you might be getting hooked on more than the fish.  PFOS is widespread in water around the world even though production stopped in the US a decade ago.  

Once PFOS is in the environment it does not leave.  

The main exposures would be eating fish, food containers, stain resistant sprays, fire-proofing and non-stick cookware.  The higher the fish in the food chain the greater the concentration of toxic compounds that are linked to low birth weights, impaired immune function in children and high blood pressure during pregnancy.

I've railed against the celebrity endorsed lines of non-stick cookware for years.  

DuPont contaminated drinking water for 47,000 people in West Virginia with PFOS and they experienced liver function abnormalities, early menopause and high cholesterol.  Statins don't account for or address any environmental issues.  

What other health issues is PFOS linked to?

Heart disease, immuno-suppression in children and cancers.

One of my patients with serious cardiovascular disease came in to review his labs.  He had high levels of mercury in serum blood (18/ should be 0) and even higher levels in tissue storage (86/ should be 0).  This is of concern because he is already at high risk for a cardio event and stroke. Mercury, a neurotoxin, not only crosses blood-brain barrier, but it lodges into cardiac tissue and can serve as an igniter for a heart attack. This patient was high in serum blood because he was eating cans of tuna fish each week thinking it was a safer protein compared to meat.  He will not be opening another can of tuna ever and we are going to begin chelation therapy.  

Is there a safe dose of PFOS?  

No, The EPA has not established one.  You're allowed one fish meal per week if the PFOS concentrations are 40 to 200 parts per billion or one fish fry per month if it's 200-800 parts per billion. 

Maybe Arctic polar bears have trouble reproducing now because they are the animals with the highest levels of PFOS.

At Second Nature, we offer environmental detoxification that is realistic and cost effective.  We are your Detox experts.  Schedule your environmental consult this week. If you are doing your own detoxing, call to order the supplements I use myself to enhance the protocol.To book an appointment or order supplements Contact Second Nature Naturopathic Care

Topics: Detoxification

Isadora Guggenheim

Written by Isadora Guggenheim

Isadora Guggenheim, ND, FNP, RN, MS, CNS, LMT, owner of Second Nature Naturopathic Care, LLC
For all appointments: Tel: 845 358-8385 Fax: 845 358-2963 drguggenheim@msn.com