There have been alarming reports of toxins affecting our safety in the kitchen. Considering the mercury in ahi sashimi to the chemical Bisphenol-A (BPA) in canned food and rat lungworm parasites in locally grown greens, the dining room table can seem like a dangerous place. The good news is that there are steps you can take to keep toxins out of your family’s meals. Mercury in Fish

Fish is part of Hawaii’s local food source, is low in fat, high in protein and brain-supporting Omega-3 fatty acids. Unfortunately, the ocean, and many fish in it, are filled with pollutants such as methyl mercury.

Mercury is a heavy metal, a neurotoxin that can lead to learning disorders in children, autoimmune disease and even heart problems. For this reason, health officials recommend eating ahi tuna only once a week — even less often if you’re pregnant, because fetuses are at the highest risk from mercury.

Usually larger fish have the most mercury because they are caught when they are older. According to the Hawaii State Department of Health, ahi, ono and opah have higher levels of mercury, and should be eaten less often than, for instance, mahi mahi or Hawaii’s low-mercury small, young fish such as akule and moi.

Looking to cooler waters, Alaskan wild salmon has some of the lowest mercury levels (plus the highest levels of omega-3s), as do herring and sardines.

Canned chunk light tuna has less mercury than solid white albacore. Vital Choice tuna, available online, advertises that they catch small, albacore tuna that contains much less mercury and many times the omega-3 fats found in most brands.

And Vital Choice is the only company selling canned fish that has attempted to enforce a BPA-free can policy, bringing us to another recent health alarm…Bisphenol-A.

Often referred to as BPA, this chemical is used to line metal cans and to create clear, hard plastics like water bottles. Unfortunately, studies are correlating high levels of BPA with obesity, fertility problems, breast and prostate cancers, diabetes and heart disease.

Two environmental activists from Canada, Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie, devised an experiment that they chronicle in the book, Slow Death by Rubber Duck: The Secret Danger of Everyday Things. After just two days of eating only canned food microwaved in plastic containers and drinking from one of his son’s old baby bottles, Smith saw a major rise in the levels of BPA in his body.

“My levels increased over eight times,” he said. “You can only imagine what the levels in an infant would look like if after two or three years of their sole source of nutrition being a BPA baby bottle. Their levels would just be through the roof.” Smith said children are especially vulnerable to hormonally-active chemicals such as BPA while their brains and organs are developing.

To stay clear of BPA, look for food, drinks and powdered infant formula packaged in boxes or other alternatives to cans. Choose fresh or frozen food instead of canned whenever possible.

Pesticides & Parasites

Pesticides are neurotoxins, so to be safe (if you’re not buying organic), stick with fruits and vegetables with thicker rinds such as bananas, oranges and avocados, which have lower levels of pesticides in their flesh than those with more permeable skin, such as potatoes and strawberries.

Also, wash your produce thoroughly to help prevent exposure to bacteria or parasites such as angiostrongylus, or rat lung worm, the probable cause of twelve cases of eosinophilic meningitis in 2008 through 2009 on our island, according to the Hawaii State Department of Health.

A USDA report in 2007 found the culprit, a slug known as Parmarion martensi, of which are infected with the rat lung worm parasite, spread across the eastern part of the Big Island as well as in Kailua-Kona.

“It’s important to always wash raw vegetables and fruits (cleansing thoroughly) right before eating them to remove insects, parasites, bacteria and other possibly harmful contaminants,” said Dr. Sarah Park, DOH State Epidemiologist.

Rinsing fresh produce under a cold-water spray and then soaking it in distilled water for 1-2 minutes was found more effective and more economical than the other wash methods tested. Using soaps, detergents or bleach on produce can leave harmful residues.

No scientific studies have been done specifically on angiostrongylus cantonensis regarding the best produce wash to prevent rat lung worm disease. But some locals use chlorine dioxide (MMS – Miracle Mineral Solution, available online) because of its claims to kill intestinal parasites. For more information on the latest safety recommendations, go to ratlungwormhawaii.org.

http://www.bigislandweekly.com/articles/2010/03/31/read/lifestyle/lifestyle03.txt

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