The Dec. 12, 2008 edition of the Washington Post reported on a decision made by the Food and Drug Administration regarding the safety of mercury in fish. The contaminant has long been understood to be detrimental to the health of consumers, and has been shown to be especially harmful to fetuses, infants and children. Because of the adverse health effects caused by mercury contamination, women of childbearing age, women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, infants and children have been strongly advised against consuming fish known to contain high levels of mercury.

In 2004, this advisory was made official in a joint release from the FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency. In 2008, to the surprise and dismay of the EPA, the FDA deemed it necessary to recant those scientifically backed statements they made four years ago, apparently as a concession to the fishing industry.

The FDA’s newest pseudo-scientific document, representing oversimplified and questionable “scientific results” that will undoubtedly put our nation’s most vulnerable at risk, has drawn criticism from scientists across the board. The FDA can nonetheless bask in the laudatory comments from the fishing industry, such as Gavin Gibbons of the National Fisheries Industry. Gibbons has been quoted in the Washington Post as saying that “this is a science-based approach … and you can start to see a picture emerge that shows the clear benefits of eating seafood outweighs the risk of a trace amount of mercury in fish.”

While American consumers can find these same benefits in other, safer sources, the FDA is sending the message that it is perfectly safe to consume mercury.

The FDA pulled a similar stunt back in August, when officials released a report about bisphenol A, or BPA, a chemical used in baby products such as bottles. The report claims that BPA is safe and that the trace amounts found in these baby products and canned goods are not enough to pose a significant risk. In the scientific community, which the FDA is apparently not a part of anymore, research has actually shown that BPA can in fact cause health problems such as cancer and infertility, and that babies and children are especially vulnerable.

It is worth noting that this so-called scientific study conducted by the FDA was paid for by the very same multi-billion dollar industry that would suffer if a Senate bill is passed outlawing BPA additives in products made for babies and children. Furthermore, the majority — 90 percent — of studies conducted by the government and universities between 1997 and 2005 showed a link between the chemical and ill health effects in humans. Not surprisingly, exactly zero percent of the industry-funded studies showed this link.

Indeed, chief scientist for Environmental Health Sciences Pete Myers is quoted in the Washington Post as saying that “It’s ironic FDA would choose to ignore dozens of studies funded by [the National Institutes of Health] — this country’s best scientists — and instead rely on flawed studies from industry.”

It is time for us as a nation to wake up. This is not about the left versus the right anymore. This is about the health and safety of our children.

It is time that we as a nation step back and see reality the way it really is, not just the pseudo-reality that is sent through the filters of liberal and conservative. Nobody likes to be lied to. It is when we believe those lies that we put ourselves in grave danger.

Elizabeth Elwakeil

Senior

Liberal studies