A new study suggests that despite the risk of mercury exposure, eating fish while pregnant improves prenatal development because of the nutrients found in fish it.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) caution pregnant women of limiting their fish consumption, to an average of two meals per week, due to the risk of brain and nerve damage of the fetus. But earlier studies found that even high consumption of fish or an average of 12 meals per week does not affect the brain development of the fetus.
The recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center led by Sean Strain, a professor of Human Nutrition at the Ulster University in Northern Ireland focused on explaining how high consumption of fish is not really bad for pregnant women, and that the benefits outweigh the risks.
The study followed more than 1,500 mothers and their children. The researchers collected hair samples from the mothers during pregnancy to measure mercury levels in their bodies. Twenty months after the birth, the infants underwent series of tests to evaluate their communication, behavior and motor skills.
The analysis showed that high mercury exposure is not linked to poor brain development based on the test scores of the infants. Further analysis showed that pregnant women who have high levels of fatty acids found in fish gave birth to children who performed better in tests, suggesting that these fatty acids protected the brain from damage.
"These findings show no overall association between prenatal exposure to mercury through fish consumption and neurodevelopmental outcomes," Edwin van Wijngaarden, an associate professor at the University of Rochester Department of Public Health Sciences and a co-author of the study, said in a press release. "It is also becoming increasingly clear that the benefits of fish consumption may outweigh, or even mask, any potentially adverse effects of mercury."
The study was published in the Jan. 21 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
