The Effect of Canned Tuna on Future Wages
The mercury contamination in tuna and other fish may adversely impact future earnings by impairing brain function and leading to a loss of intelligence (IQ).
Topics
Supplementary Info
The Effect of Canned Tuna on Future Wages,
Sources Cited
Grosse S. How Much Does IQ Raise Earnings? Implications for Regulatory Impact Analyses. Association of Environmental and Resource Economists Newsletter 2007 27(2)
Acknowledgements
Image thanks to chippenziedeutch.
Transcript
. Earlier this year, Consumer Reports published some new tests on tuna, confirming that just a single serving—like half a can of white tuna—would put women of childbearing age over the EPA mercury safety limit. Light tuna tends to have less than white tuna, but they found sometimes it can have twice as much. Bottomline? They recommend children and premenopausal women eat no more than a can a week and pregnant women avoid canned tuna entirely.
Last year, scientists at the Harvard School of public health attempted to calculate what effect a reduction of mercury intake might have for our population given that methyl mercury is "a known human developmental neurotoxicant, as well as may increase fatal heart attack risks.” They calculated that if we could just cut back our mercury exposure 10%,we could save our country $860 million a year, most of which would be associated with reductions in fatal heart attacks and the remainder with IQ gains.
The CDC estimates that every extra IQ point you have translates into about 1% future higher earnings in life, so lowering your mercury intake is healthy for your brain and bank account. Practically what does reducing methyl mercery exposure mean? Well, you can try not to live next to a volcano or coal-fired power plant, but “Fish consumption is the major source of methylmercury intake.”
To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by Dianne Moore.
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Doctor's Note
Please feel free to post any ask-the-doctor type questions here in the comments section and I’d be happy to try to answer them. Be sure to check out the other videos on tuna. Also, there are 1,449 subjects covered in my other videos–please feel free to explore them!
For more context, check out my associated blog post, Mercury Testing Recommended Before Pregnancy
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Ronald Chavin
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