Environmental toxins
Mercury
Hg
Included in Complete.
Compare membershipsHow your seafood choices show up in your blood.
Mercury is a metal found naturally in the environment. Most people in Canada are exposed by eating fish, and measuring mercury helps show whether your recent exposure looks higher than expected.
Fish is the main source, and the type matters.
Large predatory fish build up more methylmercury, the form of mercury found in fish. Health Canada advises limiting fresh or frozen tuna, shark, swordfish, marlin, orange roughy, and escolar, with stricter limits for people who are pregnant or breastfeeding and for young children. Canned light tuna is much lower in mercury. Fish also offers valuable nutrients, including the omega-3 fats EPA and DHA.
A blood mercury result mainly reflects recent exposure to methylmercury. Mercury from dental fillings, or from some imported skin-lightening creams and soaps, is a different form that shows up more in urine.
Questions
What does a higher mercury result mean?
Most often, it reflects eating higher-mercury fish regularly. Your clinician will ask about the fish you eat and other possible sources, and read your result alongside your other markers.
Should I stop eating fish?
Health Canada recognizes fish as a valuable source of nutrients and advises limiting the higher-mercury types. Choosing lower-mercury options more often is a practical way to keep fish in your diet.
Can someone help me make sense of it?
Yes. Your result appears in the MyHealthspan app, where an AI health assistant can explain it alongside your omega-3 results and other markers.