A study shows that chlorella, a single-celled organism which has been used for many years as a nutritional supplement, can help flush methylmercury from your system.
Mice fed methylmercury were given chlorella, and the amount of methylmercury excreted in their urine and feces was approximately twice the amount excreted by mice not treated with chlorella.
Methylmercury is a neurotoxic compound widely used in industrial applications. It accumulates in fish, which has led to widespread advisories against fish consumption by pregnant women.
The study in the Journal of Toxicological Sciences reports:
“These results suggest that the intake of [chlorella] may induce the excretion of Hg [mercury] both in feces and urine ... The effect of [chlorella] on the tissue mercury accumulation may become evident in a long-term experiment.”