When temperatures rise, rising Mercury. What does this mean for your fertility?

Did you know that mercury is the fifth most toxic element in the world to arsenic and lead?  Mercury can come in many forms, such as a gas, liquid or a solid.  Mercury is all around us in our everyday lives.

Did you know that mercy poisoning is associated with neurological damage in adults and impaired neurological development in infants and children?

Where do I find Mercury?

A common place to find mercury is in our waterways, contaminating seafood for human consumption. We can also find mercy in dental fillings, mining sites, burning of fossil fuels and medical wastes, to naturally occurring sources such as volcanoes, bush fires and soil.

Did you know the atmospheric burden of mercury is increasing by 1.5% per year, affecting us from our atmosphere and though our food chain.  The release of man made mercury leads to an increase each day of mercury we are exposed to.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) guideline for total mercury intake of body weight per day is 2 µg kg−1

How does mercury affect my fertility?

Mercury can compromise the immune system, cardiovascular, pulmonary and rental systems.  Mercury cause issues with mensuration affect the hypothalamus and in turn cause ovulatory function issues.  It increases the chances of miscarriage or premature birth and causes a decrease in sperm count, and toxic effects to embryos.

Mercury is found to build up in the pituitary gland, this gland is important for the normal functioning of male and female sex hormones and driving normal function.

In a study by Mocevic, E et al (2013), they demonstrated that mercury is toxic to the reproductive organs and hormones.  Mercury leads to decreased sperm motility, viability, and causes DNA breaks in the sperm leaving it a lesser quality.  Mercury builds up in the ovaries and testis causes affects on both male and female sex organs, and fertility outcomes and for cure fertility Coach required.

How do I know what seafood are high in Mercury?

Seafood Mercury content (ppm) Safety guide
King Mackerel 0.730 Eco-bad
Orange roughy 0.554 Eco- bad
Swordfish 0.976 Eco-bad
Tilefish 1.450 Eco-bad

For more figures on seafood click the following link https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3988285/

Which fish are low in Mercury and safer for me to consume?

Seafood Mercury content (ppm) Safety guide
Salmon 0.014
Oysters 0.013 Eco-good
Sardines 0.016 Eco-good
Mackerel 0.046 Eco-good
Catfish 0.049 Eco-good
Crab 0.060 Eco-good

Consume a well rounded healthy died with a consumption of 2-3 serves of seafood per week is recommended, fresh and washed fruits and vegetables and those higher in selenium to detoxify the body from any mercury.

Foods high in selenium:

  • Brazil nuts
  • Sardines
  • Grass-feed beef
  • Turkey
  • Liver
  • Chicken

Reference:

Mocevic, E., Specht, I, O., Marott, J, L., Giwercman, A., Jönsson,B, A., Toft,G., Lundh, T and Bonde, J, P. (2013).  Environmental mercury exposure, semen quality and reproductive hormones in Greenlandic Inuit and European men: a cross-sectional study ‘Asian Journal of Andrology.’ 15, 1, 97-104.
Rice,K, M.,Walker, E, M., Wu,M.,Gillette, C., and Blough, E, R. (2014). Environmental Mercury and Its Toxic Effects  ‘Journal of Preventative Medicine & Public Health.’ 47, 2, 74-83.