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Bigger fish higher up on the food chain tend to pick up mercury and have higher concentrations in their bodies. Methylmercury is a toxic byproduct of coal and industrial crap in general and tends to run into water easily, where it is picked up on all levels of the food chain. It's absorbed easily into the whole body from the intestinal track which means it moves up the food chain and concentrates itself more and more densely the farther up you go (biomagnification).
The Ie; after a plankton is eaten by a goldfish which is eaten by an insect, the insect is eaten by a fish, which is then eaten by a tuna fish, the tuna fish will have total mercury concentrations of whatever the smaller fish had, plus whatever else the insect had, plus whatever else the goldfish had, etc etc etc. (Yes, I just made up that supposed food chain  )
So a lot more fish are dangerous than just salmon and tuna; from wikipedia: "shark, swordfish, marlin, larger species of tuna, walleye, largemouth bass, and chain pickerel have higher levels of methylmercury than herbivorous fish such as tilapia, trout, and herring."
I don't eat canned fish at all, but mostly for culinary reasons...but I don't think I'd eat canned tuna anyway, just in case. That stuff is pretty shady. If you're buying fresh fish, ask if they have any farm raised available - you can be 100% sure there's no mercury in there, if you're worried.
Call a local hospital and ask them how many cases of mercury poisoning they've treated in the last decade if you're really that curious.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylmercury
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Last edited by CleverName on Oct-26-2006 at 01:00
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