Net Effects Explains the Benefits to Children from Maternal Fish Consumption Despite Methylmercury in Fish

Neurotoxicology. 2023 Oct 20:S0161-813X(23)00136-5. doi: 10.1016/j.neuro.2023.10.010. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTIn 2001 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued precautionary advice to pregnant women to limit fish consumption over concerns that the methylmercury content might harm their children's neurodevelopment. This concern was based largely on results from an epidemiological study of mothers primarily exposed to methylmercury from consuming pilot whale. Subsequently, FDA and the World Health Organization/Food and Agriculture Organization (WHO/FAO) undertook independent assessments of fish consumption that considered net effects from both fish nutrients, primarily omega-3 fatty acids, as beneficial and methylmercury as harmful. Both assessments estimated that when mothers regularly consume fish during pregnancy, their children are likely to have improved neurodevelopment compared to children of non-fish eaters despite their exposure to methylmercury. These estimated improvements included gains of two to over five full scale IQ points from levels of maternal consumption that are achievable in most of the world. Consistent with those estimates, human research on fish consumption and child neurodevelopment from more than 200,000 mother-child pairs now collectively reports 51 beneficial associations with neurodevelopmental outcomes and three adverse associations, the latter with no discernable pattern. These associations include full scale IQ gains similar to, o...

Source: Neurotoxicology - October 22, 2023 Category: Neurology Authors: Philip Spiller Edwin van Wijngaarden Heather R Adams J J Strain Emeir M McSorley Maria S Mulhern Marie C Conway Allison J Yeates Clark Carrington P Michael Bolger Kara M Morgan Caroline M Taylor Nicholas V C Ralston Michael A Crawford Joseph R Hibbeln J T Source Type: research