Kids Food Safety: Toxins in Fish

Methylmercury and polychlorinated biphenyls are contaminants commonly found in fish.

Mercury from industrial pollutants can collect in bodies of water, where it becomes methylmercury. Fish in these polluted waters absorb the mercury into their bodies. Children, pregnant women or women planning to become pregnant and nursing mothers are at the greatest health risk of toxic levels of methylmercury. A build-up of methylmercury in the blood can affect the normal brain development of a child or fetus.

PCBs are man-made chemicals that can stay in the environment for years. Health risks associated with PCBs include poor brain or nervous system development in infants and children, reproductive difficulties and increased cancer risks.