My Diagnosis of Mercury Poisoning from Fish

In the mid-1990s, I had started to experience fatigue. I’d always
tended to work myself to exhaustion but would usually recover
after a night of rest. But by 1997, I was waking up as tired as
when I’d collapsed into bed the night before. I also noticed that
my hands were shaking and my short-term memory was spotty.
I saw a number of doctors and tried to describe my symptoms
in detail. None of them was much interested in what I
had to say. None of them found anything wrong with me. One
suggested the problem was psychosomatic. Then, on advice of
a friend, I went to a chiropractor, Dr. Bob Culver in Los Altos,
California. He was attentive as I described exactly how I experienced
the fatigue, and suggested I submit to a hair analysis that
would determine my levels of salts and heavy metals.
The results of the test were unexpected and alarming. I was
high in cadmium and zinc, but my mercury level was literally
off the charts, and he diagnosed me with “chronic mercury
poisoning”. Where on earth had I accumulated such toxic levels
of this particular heavy metal?
There are two ways to get rid of mercury. One is to simply
stop eating fish that contain high concentrations. The half-life
of methyl mercury is 49 to 164 days so within six months 50 to
75 percent of the mercury will have been eliminated from the
human body, though this rate of dissipation may not be true for
the brain. I stopped eating tuna and swordfish, and my mercury
levels dropped naturally. Another way to speed the mercury on
its way sometimes recommended by doctors is to take zinc
supplements that bind with mercury and eliminate it from the
body in a process called chelation.
I took zinc daily and immediately noticed a huge increase
in my physical strength and mental concentration. When I was
retested nine months later, my mercury level was barely detectable.
I don’t believe I incurred any permanent damage, though
it’s impossible to say for sure. But if high levels of mercury are
ingested by children in early stages of mental and neurological
development, damage can be permanent.
I was relieved to have rid my body of toxic mercury. What
I did not know was that when a fish has a high concentration
of mercury, it almost certainly is high in another class of contaminants:
persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs) and DDT—components of toxic
industrial and agricultural chemicals. There was a time bomb
still ticking inside of me.
The full story appears in my book The Voice of the Dolphins, out very soon.

Mercury/Health Expert Slams Taiji Mercury Findings

By Hardy Jones

Dr. Jane Hightower is author of Diagnosis Mercury. She's a San Francisco based internist famous for discovering the effects of mercury on many patients suffering unknown medical symptoms. At the request of BlueVoice she comments on the results of tests of mercury levels in citizens of Taiji, Japan, the village made famous by The Cove for its heinous dolphin slaughters. The tests were carried out by the National Institute of Minamata Diseases (NIMD).

The NIMD concluded that while a significant number of citizens, especially those who ate dolphin meat, had very high levels of mercury, there was no evidence these mercury burdens were causing health problems. BlueVoice points out that internationally recognized tests for neurological function were not carried out by the NIMD researchers.

It should be also be pointed out that the tests conducted by the National Institute for Minamata Diseases were paid for - wait for it - the town of Taiji!!!

Dr. Hightower's statement:

There are many studies that confirm that methylmercury is toxic to humans and can adversely affect health in a number of ways. Of most concern with long-term over exposure is non-specific symptoms, neuropsychiatric symptoms/damage, autoantibody induction, infertility, coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis, and elevated heart rate.

These adverse effects have been seen with much less exposure than what has been reported with the people of Taiji. It would be unconscionable if the Japanese government chooses to look the other way.

The Japanese government’s approval of consumers’ exposure to high mercury content as a result of a limited and inadequate study has potential for disaster.

A Day at BlueVoice Home Base

Email is both a bane and the source of our ability to make a worldwide impact. When I arrive at my desk about 8:30 each morning I download 50 to 80 emails. After trashing the junk I’m still left with maybe thirty pressing communications from around the world. Next I have to make an evaluation of those that are “burning” - something that needs immediate attention.

Here are the email transactions for December 28,2009.

Email from Dieter Hagmann, video of bottlenose dolphins that have been killed. Dolphin hunters appear to be using a new way of killing dolphins so there will be no blood. How do we use this information? Who will pay attention over the holidays and with so much other news breaking.

Email from Sakae from ELSA Nature Conservancy (our ally in Japan). Email sent 3:00am her time. As always she’s burning the midnight oil. She confirms what I also see in Dieter’s video – that some of the dead dolphins are bottlenose.

Query prompts me to do a quick Google on Brucellosis in dolphins and whales around Japan. There are many cases. How do we prove there is disease in dolphin meat at Taiji? That would really whack the market for dolphin meat.

Video arrives reporting death of a dolphin named Rasca, attributed to Navy sonar. Seemed to be a news report but had an air of fakery. Put out word to list serve Cetacean Freedom Network for verification.

Sue Arnold (Australians for Animals) email via CFN. She’s working on getting world religious leaders to go to Taiji to bear witness.

Word comes through that the dog we fostered has been adopted. Beautiful picture of Sunshine with her new family.

Email from Jim Abernathy (who runs the dive boat Shearwater) discussing impact of high mercury in human tissues on human sexual dysfunction. BV is sending him video of a shark fishery in Japan for use on his website re his new book on sharks.

I email Dr. Jane Hightower, world class authority on mercury contamination on humans and author of “Diagnosis Mercury” for analysis of mercury impact on human sexual dysfunction.

Email from Dr. Sidney Holt, one of the original and longest workers on behalf of whale and dolphins. He lives now in Italy and we reconnected through the internet. We back-and-forth on diseases such as brucellosis in whale and dolphin meat. Danger to humans? Tool to destroy the market for whale and dolphin meat?

Email reporting a major article will come out in Japan on mercury in dolphin meat and in those who eat it. Japanese scientists testing people of Taiji appear to be covering up results on who has mercury poisoning.

Email from several CFNers – the video on Rasca is not genuine news. Turns out to be a clip from a feature film in the making.

Dr. Hightower replies to my inquiry - there is ample reason to think high mercury impacts sexual function. Certainly lowers sperm count and affects nervous system.

A $400 dollar donation arrives. Nice lift for us. We appreciate the money but also the support.

More video arrives from Dieter. I take a deep breath and open it. Starts with three men hauling a bottlenose into the cove. The dolphin is brought under a green tarpaulin. No blood is seen. Soon a dolphin sling attached to the side of a boat comes out from under the tarp headed for the holding pens. This dolphin will be trained and sold for entertainment.

Rest of the afternoon will be reviewing three hours of Dieter's video of dolphin slaughter in Taiji. A grim prospect.