However, for healthy adults (who are not pregnant) and older children (6 years and over), fish with high levels of mercury should not be eaten more than once a week.
Eat up to 12 ounces (2 average meals) a week of a variety of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury.
Any fish with an average mercury concentration less than or equal to 0.15 µg/g was placed in the “Best Choices – eat 2 to 3 servings a week” category. Highest allowable average mercury concentration in fish per serving when eating 2 servings per week = 0.23 µg/g.
How should you change your eating habits to reduce your exposure to mercury in fish? Most people should not eat more than 150 g (5 oz) per week of fish that are known to have higher mercury levels. These include fresh or frozen tuna (not canned "light" tuna), shark, swordfish, marlin, orange roughy, and escolar.
While it is recommended to eat 2 or more fish meals a week, it is wise to avoid fish high in mercury. This is especially important if you are pregnant, planning a pregnancy breastfeeding, or have young children (up to 6 years).
Fish and shellfish in this category, such as salmon, catfish, tilapia, lobster and scallops, are safe to eat two to three times a week, or 8 to 12 ounces per week, according to the FDA.
Canned tuna and salmon
It is generally safe for everyone, including pregnant women, to consume two to three serves of tuna or salmon a week, canned or fresh. Canned tuna usually has lower mercury levels than other tuna because tuna used for canning are smaller species that are caught when less than one year old.
Choose fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury such as salmon, trout, tilapia, cod, sole, sardines, shrimp, oysters, and other shellfish. For the most health benefits, choose fatty fish such as salmon, trout, herring, chub mackerel, and sardines. o These fish have healthy omega-3 fatty acids.
But human industrial activity (such as coal-fired electricity generation, smelting and the incineration of waste) ratchets up the amount of airborne mercury which eventually finds its way into lakes, rivers and the ocean, where it is gobbled up by unsuspecting fish and other marine life.
In most fish, the levels are very low. However, some varieties contain high levels of mercury due to their feeding habits or surrounding environment. Commercially sold fish that may contain high levels of mercury include shark (flake), ray, swordfish, barramundi, gemfish, orange roughy, ling and southern bluefin tuna.
Certain nutrients such as Selenium, Vitamin C and E, and Glutathione help with mercury removal. Adding these nutrients in your diet can go a long way in preventing mercury toxicity. Besides, high doses of chlorella, a green algae, has also been proven helpful in reducing body mercury levels.
Takeaway. The FDA recommends eating 8 ounces of salmon per week. So you *can* eat it every day but in smaller servings. If you're pregnant, the FDA recommends eating 8 to 12 ounces of seafood per week from sources that have lower mercury levels — including salmon!
Adults with mercury poisoning may experience symptoms such as: muscle weakness. metallic taste in the mouth. nausea and vomiting.
The traditional treatment for mercury poisoning is to stop all exposures. In many cases, chelation therapy is also used. This involves giving a medication (the chelator) which goes into the body and grabs the metal (chelos is the Greek word for claw) then carries the metal out of the body, usually into the urine.
“It is only if you are consuming large amounts of the larger fish (tuna, shark, swordfish) that you should be concerned.” The new 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends at least two servings of seafood per week for people of all ages. Note that mercury poisoning builds up over time.
Mercury and PFOS cannot be removed through cooking or cleaning -- they get into the flesh of the fish. You can reduce the amount of other contaminants like PCBs by removing fat when you clean and cook fish. Trim skin and fat, especially belly fat. Also, eat fewer fatty fish such as carp, catfish, and lake trout.
Salmon is low in mercury.
Both wild and farmed Atlantic salmon have much lower mercury levels than most other fish species. Farmed salmon has on average, 0.05 micrograms of mercury per gram.
Crustacea & molluscs. Crustacea (including prawns, lobster and crabs) and molluscs (including oysters and calamari) are not a concern because they generally contain lower levels of mercury and are usually consumed less often than finfish.
But is it safe to eat fish every day? “For most individuals it's fine to eat fish every day,” says Eric Rimm, professor of epidemiology and nutrition, in an August 30, 2015 article on Today.com, adding that “it's certainly better to eat fish every day than to eat beef every day.”
Eat up to 12 ounces (two average meals) a week of a variety of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury. Shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish are low-mercury fish. Albacore (“white”) tuna has more mercury than canned light tuna.
Salmon, Wild-Caught (including canned)
Wild-caught salmon is low in contaminants, including mercury and lead. And some salmon, like pink and sockeye, from well-managed fisheries worldwide (particularly in Alaska), also tick the box for being lower in mercury and lead.
While barramundi has half the calories of Atlantic farmed salmon, both fish are high in omega-3 fatty acids, which play a vital role in brain and heart health. Health- and food-focused organizations like the USDA and NIH consistently recommend salmon as a good source of omega-3 fatty acids.
Fish with the highest levels of omega-3 include salmon, blue-eye trevalla, blue mackerel, herring, canned sardines, canned salmon and some varieties of canned tuna. Other good sources of marine-sourced omega-3s include barramundi, bream, flathead, squid, scallops and mussels.