Posted by Larry Hoover on January 6, 2005, at 11:11:15
In reply to Re: spend money on pricey fish oil supplements? » Larry Hoover, posted by tensor on January 6, 2005, at 2:19:12
> Hi Larry,
>
> > There are no heavy metals (mercury, cadmium, lead) in fish oils. Those metals do not physically interact with fats in such a way that they can even dissolve in it.
>
> I read this:
> Moreover, because the ocean waters of many parts of industralized nations are contaminated, oils from fish are also contaminated with heavy metals, such as mercury and PCB's.
> from:
> http://www.nutritional-supplement-info.com/fish-oil-epa-and-dha.html
>
> Can fish oil be contaminated with heavy metals?
>
> Regards,
> MattiasNot refined fish oil, no. The allegation made at this website is false.
Metals are not soluble in fats. Metals are water-soluble, and they tend to bind to protein because protein has lots of charged surfaces.
Crude fish oil, or unrefined fish oil, contains a lot of what are called co-extractives, including some protein. It's kind of like crude oil from the ground. There's gasoline in there, but you have to do some more work to separate it out.
Crude fish oil is a commodity, like wheat or pork bellies. A good part of it comes from the fish farming industry, as a by-product of the production of the fish food pellets.
When it is intended for human consumption, it has to be refined. It is totally unpalatable in its crude form. It stinks horribly, and would make you sick to the stomach if you consumed any of it. So, they refine it. In that processing, all the metals are automatically removed. They don't do anything special to get the metals out. It's just part of the physical effect of preparing it for human consumption. The metals disappear along with all the other nasty co-extractives. What you're left with, the fish oil for human consumption, is quite safe.
The website you were reading is just trying to sell you their own product, at increased profit to them.
Here's a recent laboratory analysis:
http://www.consumerlab.com/results/omega3.aspLar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:436007
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20050101/msgs/438470.html