Mercury Rising

If, like Oprah Winfrey, mad cow disease has made you swear off hamburgers, you might be eating more fish instead. Fish are touted as a low-fat, healthy food that can help prevent heart disease and other illnesses. But recent reports saying that as little as a half can of tuna per day contains enough mercury to be harmful to developing fetuses, infants and young children make it apparent that dolphin safety isn't your only concern.

Tuna, other seafood and freshwater fish, many experts say, can contain dangerous levels of mercury. The fish are often contaminated by emissions from coal-fired power plants, incinerators and other industrial facilities that end up in the water, where mercury turns into its organic form, methylmercury, and accumulates in fish tissue.

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