Mercury
One of the best parts of living in the Pacific Northwest is the food! For me and my family, fresh fish is our go-to PNW meal, but we do have to limit how much fish we eat in a week due to concerns about mercury poisoning or exposure for us and our kiddos.
Mercury is a naturally occurring chemical element found all over nature in small amounts. High concentrations and frequent exposures can cause brain damage, which explains why the Mad Hatter is so “Mad.” Back in the day, hatters would have chronic exposure to mercury while using the chemical mercuric nitrate to stiffen felt for hats. This chronic exposure would cause psychosis, tremors, insomnia, and personality changes.
To avoid this chronic exposure to mercury in our foods, we are told it is best to limit foods where mercury is found at higher levels, and for most people that is fish. Generally, species of fish that are larger and live longer on average, the more possible mercury is in the fish. That means fish like king mackerel, marlin, shark, swordfish, tilefish, orange roughy, and bigeye tuna should be avoided or limited. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) recommends that most other fish can be safely eaten by kiddos about twice a week. I actually use this handy card (see link below) when buying fish to see what is cool for the little ones to eat, so they can still get the excellent source of protein, omega-3s, and calcium that fish offer: