(JP) Ecotoxicologist warns of pollutants hurting whales, dolphins, humans

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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20020517b4.htm

 

WHALE WATCHING

 

Ecotoxicologist warns of pollutants hurting whales,

dolphins, humans

 

By MICK CORLISS

Staff writer

 

While whaling experts and negotiators debate the

future of whaling, some specialists worry that whale

health and the safety of whale meat are not getting

enough attention.

 

" Marine animals such as whales and dolphins have far

higher levels of pollutants, " said Shinsuke Tanabe, a

professor of environmental chemistry and ecotoxicology

at Ehime University's Center for Marine Environmental

Studies.

 

Sitting at the top of the food chain, whales and other

sea mammals are magnets for pollutants, which tend to

accumulate at the higher end of the predatory ladder,

the marine pollution expert said.

 

" What is strange is that even though they are very far

from land-based pollution sources and in a relatively

clean ocean, they are much more prone to contamination

than land animals or people, " he said.

 

Tanabe solved this mystery in 1988, when he reported

that whales and other marine mammals lack the enzymes

found in land animals that break down poisons.

 

Experts attribute this to evolution. While land

animals developed the means to break down poisons

produced by terrestrial plants, marine life evolved

largely devoid of this challenge, he said.

Consequently, marine mammals are veritable

repositories for various toxins.

 

Consumer groups have voiced concern over high levels

of pollutants, such as heavy metals and

polychlorinated biphenyls in whales, while meat from

sperm whales caught in the North Pacific last season

was not put on the market due to excessive mercury

levels.

 

A group of experts, working at the behest of the

Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is looking into

current food standards and whale meat contamination

levels. They are due to come up with recommendations

this summer.

 

Current standards for mercury and PCBs are believed to

be inadequate, as they are three decades old and do

not address the problem of chronic toxicity, or

long-term exposure, Tanabe said.

 

But while there is still a risk, whale is generally

consumed so rarely today that Tanabe is not worried

about its toxic effects on people.

 

" When I was a child, whale meat often appeared in

school lunches -- sometimes two or three times per

week, " the 51-year-old researcher recalled.

 

Still, the government should warn high-risk groups,

such as breast-feeding mothers, pregnant women and

people in fishing hamlets who might regularly consume

the internal organs of whales.

 

" I eat whale meat. I like it and I am done

reproducing, but I wouldn't let my children eat it, "

Tanabe said.

 

Labels explaining whether meat is dolphin or whale,

where it was killed and whether it was a toothed or

baleen whale would help consumers to make informed

choices, he said. Coastal and toothed cetaceans tend

to have much higher contamination levels.

 

However, it is the health of marine mammals that

concerns Tanabe most.

 

" Rather than people, it is dolphins and whales that we

need to be worried about. They are very threatened by

these chemicals, " he said.

 

" We need to think more about the health of whales.

Right now everything is so human-centered. "

 

The well-being of cetaceans is often lost in squabbles

over whaling or the implications of marine pollution

for people.

 

" This way of thinking needs adjusting, " he said.

 

The number of mass strandings -- when hundreds or

thousands of cetaceans beach themselves -- has jumped

this century, and Tanabe points out that pollution

could be one cause.

 

He explains that pollutants can impair immune

functions, making animals susceptible to viral

infections.

 

Dangerous chemicals stored in fat, such as DDT or

PCBs, are passed on to offspring through the fat in

mothers' milk, he said. While fat comprises just 2

percent to 3 percent of milk in humans, in whales it

is 10 times that amount.

 

" Current safety criteria are based on data for humans

and this could lead to the demise of species that are

more sensitive to chemicals, " he said.

 

Dolphins and whales also develop cancer, but research

on what environmental toxins lead to which diseases in

cetaceans is next to nil, Tanabe said.

 

" I think Japan needs to take a leadership role from a

research perspective, " Tanabe said, adding that he

would like to see an ambitious program to sequence

cetacean DNA to better understand and protect the

creatures.

 

The Japan Times: May 17, 2002

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