Medical Masquerade: One Man’s Experience with Methylmercury Poisoning

This unique one hour video presentation about the clinical presentation of methylmercury poisoning includes three parts: the perspective of someone who experienced it himself; clinical information from an expert in methylmercury poisoning; and perspectives from a scientist who studies mercury in the marine environment. The video was made at a grand round presentation for the Department of Medicine at Stony Brook University Medical Center in November 2010.

Presenters included: Richard Gelfond, CEO and Director, IMAX Corporation and Chair, Stony Brook Foundation; Michael Gochfeld, MD, PhD, Professor, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; and Nicholas Fisher, PhD, Distinguished Professor, SBU School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences and Director of the Consortium for Inter-Disciplinary Environmental Research.

 

ZMWG Report: Mercury in Fish, a global Health Hazard
10 February 2009

Methylmercury contamination of fish and fish-eating mammals is a global public health concern. The risk is greatest for populations whose per capita fish consumption is high, and in areas where environmental pollution has elevated the average mercury content of fish. But methylmercury hazards also exist where per capita fish consumption and average mercury levels in fish are comparatively low. In cultures where fish-eating marine mammals such as whales and seals are part of the traditional diet, methylmercury in these animals adds to total dietary exposure.