Penny Lancaster revealed she gave up fish when she was struggling to conceive
Dangerous levels of mercury have been found in women of reproductive age across the world, the largest study of its kind has found.
Excessive levels the neurotoxic metal can seriously harm unborn children and have been blamed on fish-rich diets.
In some parts of the word gold mining and industrial pollution are also to blame, according to experts in Sweden.
Rod Stewart’s wife Penny Lancaster has previously revealed she cut fish out of her diet after two years of failed attempts to conceive her second child with her rocker husband.
Now 46, she sought medical help and doctors discovered very high levels of mercury in her body due to her consumption of fish. After changing her diet, she then became pregnant following her third round of IVF in 2010.
Experts say fish-rich diets, gold mining and industrial pollution is causing excessive levels of mercury in women of child-bearing age worldwide (stock photo)
MY MERCURY LEVELS WERE ‘OFF THE SCALE’
Model Penny says within two months of not eating fish her mercury levels halved
Penny Lancaster was told the mercury levels in her body were a result of her love of fish. Her preference for a high-protein, low-fat seafood-based diet she believes was to blame.
‘A homeopathic doctor told me my mercury levels were really high, off the scale,’ she told HELLO! Magazine.
‘I do love fish, and I thought it was healthy without understanding the high mercury levels that fish like tuna, swordfish and halibut can contain.
‘My doctor said it was unhealthy to have so much mercury in my body, and also for conceiving babies.’
The model revealed cutting out fish made a drastic difference to her mercury levels.
‘After two months of not eating fish, my mercury levels dropped by half, which is scary – I had no idea what the fish had been doing to my body,’ she said.
Recalling the moment she learned of her pregnancy, she said: ‘I couldn’t believe it. I burst into tears. I called Rod when I was still sobbing.
‘Rod said, “I’m in the middle of a restaurant in Russia, crying”. ‘I kept pinching myself. Neither of us could believe it.’
The latest research, from Swedish safety group International POPs Elimination Network (Ipen), covered 25 of the countries with the highest risk and found worrying levels in women from Alaska to Chile and Indonesia to Kenya.
Babies exposed to mercury in the womb can have brain damage and hearing and vision problems.
‘Women have to be very careful, in any country, of what type of fish and how much they eat,’ Lee Bell who led the new study told The Guardian.
Key findings
Researchers coordinated hair sampling from 1044 women of reproductive age in 37 locations across 25 countries on six continents.
Analysis found that 36 per cent of women had average mercury levels over the US EPA health advisory level of 1ppm.
This is the level above which brain damage, IQ loss, and kidney and cardiovascular damage may occur.
Furthermore, the study found that 55 per cent of the global sample of women measured more than 0.58ppm of mercury, a level associated with the onset of foetal neurological damage.
The highest levels were found in women from sites in Indonesia where mercury is heavily used in small-scale gold mining and where fish is also commonly eaten.
Such gold mining leads to serious mercury pollution in sea levels and is also a source of harm to women in Kenya, Paraguay and Myanmar.
Limit oily fish say experts
Despite concerns about mercury, official advise from the NHS is that everyone should eat fish at least twice a week – including one portion of oily fish such as salmon or tuna.
This is because fish and shellfish are good sources of vitamins and minerals and are far lower in fat than any form of meat.
Oily fish is also particularly high in omega-3 fatty acids, which have huge benefits to the heart and brain, and in vitamin D, which strengthens the bones.
Many studies suggest most of us are not eating enough oily fish. However, there is different advice for pregnant women.
Experts recommend that women who are pregnant or trying to conceive limit themselves to two portions of oily fish a week.
Furthermore, the UK’s Food Standards Agency recommends these women, and children, not to eat any shark, swordfish or marlin, as these top predators have the highest levels of mercury.
The FSA also suggests these groups limit their tuna consumption.