U.S. agencies stick to pregnancy fish-eating limits

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government said on Monday it was holding firm to its recommendations that pregnant and breast-feeding women limit how much fish and other seafood they eat and avoid certain types with high levels of mercury.

The two agencies that have set government policy on the subject -- the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency -- have declined to alter their recommendations that these women eat no more than 12 ounces of fish weekly.

Their stance comes a week after a health advocacy coalition that received funding from the fish industry and 14 experts on October 4 urged these women to eat more fish.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other government agencies that are members of the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition have actively distanced themselves from the coalition's new advice.

Some environmental activists said the coalition and its experts had tried to mislead women with the recommendations.

The coalition said the nutritional boost for infant brain development and other benefits outweighed any risks from trace amounts of the toxin mercury in fish and seafood -- directly contradicting government advice.

The FDA and EPA have advised limits on fish and other seafood consumption because some contain levels of mercury that may harm the developing nervous systems of fetuses and infants.

"The joint EPA/FDA fish consumption advisories are based on sound science, and the agency recommends pregnant women continue to follow the current guidelines," EPA spokeswoman Suzanne Ackerman said by e-mail in response to an inquiry.