New CDC survey tracks mercury levels in Americans
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Mercury exposure in the United States increases with age, then starts tapering off when people turn 50, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found in a study released today.
The CDC study is the first to measure mercury exposure in a wider U.S. population, following research that focused on young children and women in their childbearing years. People are often exposed to mercury through contaminated seafood, and a recent U.S. EPA survey found that almost half of U.S. freshwater fish carry mercury in excess of federal safe levels for human consumption.
The CDC data are part of a project assessing chemicals in people’s bodies. The agency has added 75 contaminants to its database, bringing the total to 212 chemicals.
The survey analyzed blood, serum and urine samples from 2,500 people as a part of the CDC’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which is released every two years.
