Whats happening at CBS? Last night, someone forgot to fact-check this online headline: Study finds unsafe mercury levels in 84 percent of all fish. That new study was neither published nor peer-reviewed, which makes it opinion. And opinion presented as fact is a huge no-no in journalism.

But it didnt stop there, CBS Evening News reporter, Tony Guida then gave environmental activists a free-pass on the networks Sunday night broadcast. Here are a few of the doozies:

“Eating fish is the principle way we get mercury poisoning.” Guida

Fact: There has never been a case of mercury poisoning from the normal consumption of commercial seafood in the U.S. published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

“Tuna and swordfish contain the most mercury.” Guida

Fact: Ten species of fish albacore and skipjack tuna among them make up 90% of the seafood Americans eat. All ten species are well below the FDA’s threshold and its 10-fold safety factor.

“Many of the tuna fish we eat, by example, swim in the South China Sea. And that’s mercury pollution that comes into our cans and our pantries every day.” Linda Greer, director of NRDCs health and environmental program

Fact: While tuna do swim in the Western Pacific Ocean, they also swim off the coast of Florida. Tuna are highly migratory fish.

Fact: Trace amounts of naturally occurring mercury in ocean species of fish come primarily from thermal vents and volcanoes that dot the ocean floor. Its been this way for hundreds of millions of years. Theres even scientific evidence that traces of mercury in commercial seafood are largely unchanged in the last 100 years.

After a good two minute scare story, Mr. Guida lets on that this story is less about a silent epidemic and more about a global treaty to eliminate mercury pollution. As weve said here, here, and here we can all get behind that, but the end cannot justify the means.

By trying to crank up the urgency by suggesting that mercury in fish isnt naturally occurring and is solely the result of mercury emissions, batteries, light bulbs, and gold mining, CBS serves up the ultimate red herring.

Read more about our efforts to get CBS to correct the record below:

Patricia Shevlin
Executive Producer
CBS Evening News
524 West 57th St.
New York, NY 10019

VIA EMAIL

Dear Ms. Shevlin,

I am writing to alert you to the significant reporting oversights in your 01/13/13 Evening News story titled U.N. aims to reduce mercury levels. Tony Guida and the CBS team failed its viewers with a story containing blatant inaccuracies, nuances, and erroneous reporting that goes against the Society of Professional Journalists Codes of Ethics.

In the segment, Mr. Guida says, Eating fish is the principle way people get mercury poisoning. This is not true. Eating fish is the primary way people are exposed to trace amounts of naturally-occurring mercury, but erroneously tying that to mercury poisoning is wrong and irresponsible. When people eat fish, they take in a whole food packed with vitamins and minerals, including selenium. Research finds that the selenium found in fish works to counteract the mercury (see attached). The ability of Se (selenium) to decrease the toxic action of Hg (mercury) has been established in all species investigated to date. Keep in mind there are no cases of mercury poisoning from the normal consumption of commercial seafood in any peer-reviewed published journals. However, there is science that shows low seafood consumption is the second-biggest dietary contributor to preventable deaths in the U.S., taking84,000lives each year (for perspective, low intake of fruits and vegetables takes 58,000 lives each year).

Mr. Guida goes on to claim tuna and swordfish contain the most mercury. This broad and sweeping statement provides no context for readers to know or understand what the most mercury means. He failed to explain that the FDA limit is 1 parts per million (ppm) and that canned light tuna has just 0.1 ppm and canned albacore (white) tuna has 0.3 ppm, all well below the FDAs safety guidlines. He also failed to mention that the FDA limit has a 1,000 percent safety factor built in. Some simple fact-checking would have shown that canned light tuna is on FDAs list of fish and shellfish low in mercury.

Mr. Guida adds to this sweeping generalization by saying which can permanently damage the brain and kidneys. We would be very interested to see his research, or any research, that determines fish containing 0.1 ppm of mercury can permanently damage the brain and kidneys. Its important to keep in mind that Americans eat 15 lb. of seafood per capita while others, like Japan, eat nearly ten times as much as thatyet there are no outbreaks of mercury poisoning, or permanent damage to the brain and kidneys, from the normal consumption of commercial seafood.

Linda Greer, director of NDRCs health and environment program, is featured in the segment saying, Seventy-five percent of the fish that we eat in the United States is imported. Many of the tuna fish we eat swim in the South China Sea, and thats mercury pollution that comes into our cans and our pantries every day. Simple fact-checking, again, would show the percentage of fish the US imports is not seventy-five percent. More important, concerns about mercury levels based on where tuna, a highly migratory species, swim are flawed and cannot be generally applied. Resulting from volcanic activity along the seabed (which has been occurring for millions of years), commercially caught seafood has always contained minimal traces of mercury regardless of pollution levels. In fact, levels of mercury in commercial seafood are just as they were nearly 100 years ago.

We dont challenge the claim that mercury levels in the ocean may be increasing, but we do challenge the suggestion that mercury levels in fish are increasing. The FDA notes that mercury levels have remained the same when it says, Studies of fish, including tuna and swordfish that were up to 90 years old (Miller et al., 1972; Barber et al., 1972) report levels consistent with today’s levels.

A story with inaccuracies, nuances, and erroneous reporting like this has the potential to scare people away from fish, a food that provides nutrients that Americans are becoming increasingly deficient in. According to a peer-reviewed study, risk-centric messaging reduces fish consumption. resulting in an overall reduction in the potential health benefits derived from [omega-3] EPA + DHA. The USDAs 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans are clear when they say, Moderate, consistent evidence shows that the health benefits from consuming a variety of seafood in the amounts recommended outweigh the health risks associated with methyl mercury.

The seafood community wants a cleaner, healthier environment just as anyone should. The issue is that activists who scare people away from seafood to gain traction for their own agendas contradict scientific consensus and the latest nutrition advice. CBS does a disservice to viewers by excluding the ground-truth science that says seafood is one of the healthiest foods on earth. The Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics calls on producers not to oversimplify or highlight incidents out of context. Please keep clear, accurate, and independent science in mind during on-going reports of mercury in seafood. The best way to start that process would be to remove this story from your website and produce a more balanced and accurate piece.

Please let me know how you plan to address these editorial issues. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you.

Lynsee Fowler

Communications Coordinator
National Fisheries Institute

cc: Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews
Vice President of News