Study warns of high PCB levels in salmon

[Guest guest]

Study warns of high PCB levels in

salmon

 

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0729salmonPCBs-ON.html

 

 

 

 

Jul. 29, 2003 06:10 PM

WASHINGTON - A sharp rise in the consumption of farmed salmon may be

posing a health threat to millions of Americans because of high levels of

PCBs that have been found in limited samples of the popular fish,

according to a study released Tuesday.

 

Diet- and health-conscious Americans have turned to salmon in growing

numbers in recent years, and about 23 million people now eat the fish

more than once a month. But a study by the Environmental Working Group

found that seven of 10 farmed salmon recently purchased at grocery

stories in Washington D.C., San Francisco and Portland, Ore., contained

concentrations of PCBs that were 16 times higher than those found in wild

salmon fished from the ocean and roughly four times higher than those

found in beef and other seafood.

 

A majority of the salmon consumed in the United States is produced on

aquatic farms and is fed fishmeal that consists of mostly ground-up small

fish that have absorbed PCBs. PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, have

been banned in the United States since the late 1970s and are among a

dozen chemical contaminants targeted for worldwide phase-out under the

United Nations treaty on persistent organic pollutants. PCBs, which were

used as industrial insulators, are highly persistent in the environment

and have been linked to cancer and impaired fetal brain development.

 

" When Congress banned PCBs in 1976, no one contemplated that 20-odd

years later we would have invented a new industry that re-concentrates

these toxins in our bodies, " said Jane Houlihan, vice president for

research at the Environmental Work Group, an advocacy organization.

 

The group assessed the possible health threat by correlating data from

several relatively small international studies of PCB levels in salmon

with industry data on consumers' eating habits.

 

Its report immediate condemnation from representatives of the farmed

salmon industry, who said the group had used skimpy research to engage in

" scare tactics. " The industry spokesmen disputed many of the

study's findings and stressed that PCB levels in farmed salmon are well

below limits set by the Food and Drug Administration in 1984.

 

" Salmon farmers are concerned about meeting food safety standards -

that is the basis of our operations, " said Alex Trent, the acting

executive director of Salmon of the Americas, an advocacy group

representing farmed salmon producers in the United States, Canada and

Chile. " What the EWG says in their report has nothing to do with

farmed salmon exceeding current FDA standards for PCBs or any other

currently accepted food safety issues related to farmed

salmon. "

 

The environmental group said the FDA rules were out of date and should be

brought in line with Environmental Protection Agency standards for PCB

levels in salmon caught by recreational fishermen - standards they say

are " 500 times more protective " than the FDA standards.

 

An FDA official said Tuesday that his agency beginning in 2000 had

" ramped up " its review of the prevalence of PCBs in salmon and

other foods, and will consider a number of strategies once the

investigation is complete, including revising its advice to consumers or

revising its standards for the farm salmon industry.

 

" Standards are always subject to revision based on what the science

tells us and new risk assessments tell us, " said Terry Traxell,

director of the office of plant and dairy foods and beverages. He said

that for now, however, there is no reason for consumers to change their

eating habits.

 

" Based on everything we know about PCB in salmon, the FDA maintains

its current advice to consumers to not alter their consumption of salmon

or other fish, which is highly nutritious, " Traxell said.