Oilypedia.com – Benefits And Uses Of Supplemental and Essential Oils 
International fish oil standards have been introduced as some fish oil can be contaminated with mercury or produced without following safety requirements. People may experience some health problems because of the excessive consumption of fish such as tuna or salmon, because they contain high levels of toxic mercury. In this way, you should be very concerned about the content of mercury in fish oil supplements.
GMP standard
Today fish oil is sold in pharmacies everywhere. Even some network companies can offer it. But how not to buy a fake or low-quality fish oil? When purchasing omega-3 supplement, pay attention to the labeling. Qualitative fish oil must be marked with the GMP standard («Good Manufacturing Practice»). According to Wikipedia description, it is one of the international fish oil standards, which consists of a system of rules and requirements that are applied to producers of medicines, nutritional supplements, food products, active ingredients and medical devices. The requirements of this standard relate training and qualifications of personnel, equipment, production facilities, quality of ingredients, conditions of storage and transportation. So if the supplement of fish oil meets the GMP standard, it means that you deal with a guaranteed high-quality and effective drug.
SEE ALSO: When We Should Use Bulk Coconut Oil
Harvard Medical School study
During the study on the “pathology and laboratory medicine,” conducted at the Harvard Medical School in 2003, five available to the buyer fish oil supplements and corresponding to them levels of mercury were analyzed. Such brands as Kirkland, Nordic Ultimate, CVS Sundown and OmegaBrite were tested. As a result, all brands corresponded fish oil international standards (read also about fish oil brands). Only two brands were found to contain a slight amount of mercury. CVS brand contains 10 micrograms per liter, and OmegaBrite brand contains 12 ug / l mercury. In spite of the fact, that these brands contain some mercury, but their levels are quite low and are considered insignificant for the human body. So researchers have suggested that supplements of fish oil are even more useful source of omega-3 fatty acids than the consumption of natural fish (read more about krill oil vs fish oil).
RELATED: Flaxseed Oil vs Fish Oil as an Omega-3 Source
But the problem of defining the amount of mercury in fish oil supplements still remains: nowadays it is difficult to determine the level of mercury by standard testing methods, and not all supplements can be tested. And application of GMP standard is a very expensive project.
