Consuming mercury-contaminated fish during pregnancy will not increase the probabilities of triggering autism in children, says a science team from the University of Bristol, in the United Kingdom, which carried out a study based on blood tests, the fish consumption habits of approximately 4,500 women, and the autism symptoms of their children.
Consuming mercury-contaminated fish during pregnancy will not trigger autism in children, the new study found
As a matter of fact, during the study, which has been issued recently in the Molecular Autism journal, the researchers only found that children of mothers who had never had any fish meals during their pregnancies presented social cognition problems.
“Our findings support the safety of eating fish during pregnancy. We have found no evidence to support claims that mercury is involved in the development of autism or autism traits,” said lead research author Jean Golding.
The health benefits of consuming fish during pregnancy surpass the mercury content found in some fish
The researcher Caroline Taylor, even though she has not been involved in this research, has also expressed that, in her opinion, the beneficial effects of fish consumption on human health, especially on pregnant women, thanks to the nutrients such as vitamin D, Omega-3, selenium, and iodine found in fish, outweigh the possible negative effects of mercury.
Lately, the negative impact of mercury-contaminated fish has been very mediatized as the biggest danger of fish consumption and a possible cause of autism in children if mercury-contaminated fish is consumed during pregnancy very often.
“We welcome all research that enhances our understanding of autism in children. This is a solid study that confirms what previous research has found: it’s a myth that high mercury levels in pregnant mothers cause autism in children,” admitted Carol Povey, the director of the National Autism Society at the Center for Autism, in the United Kingdom.
