Study: Farm-raised salmon contains more PCBs than wild fish

NW Cable News ^ | 07/30/03 | Associated Press

[bedolido]

PORTLAND — Farm-raised salmon contains more cancer-causing PCBs than wild fish and other common foods, according to a report released Wednesday by a public health advocacy group.

The study, by the Environmental Working Group, tested 10 samples of farmed salmon bought in three U.S. cities, including Portland. Farmed salmon now makes up 80 percent of fresh salmon sold around the country.

Opinions differ about whether the risk of polychlorinated biphenyls outweighs health benefits of eating seafood.

The salmon tested by the Washington, D.C.-based group would be safe under U.S. Food and Drug Administration standards for fish sold in supermarkets.

The group applied newer limits set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The study concluded that consumers should not eat farmed salmon from some regions more than once a month.

An environmental agency spokesman said, however, that the agency’s tighter standards were designed to protect sport and subsistence fishermen who may eat contaminated fish as a steady diet.

Salmon farming advocates said the Environmental Working Group used the stricter EPA standard to confuse consumers who know the health benefits of salmon and other fish rich in Omega-3 fatty acids.

Resource Links Environmental Working Group

“If the public listened to this, our health would be negatively affected,” said Charles Santerre, a professor of food and nutrition at Purdue University. “Any small additional risk of cancer is far outweighed by the benefits of fatty acids in the fish.”

The report could boost demand for wild salmon from the Northwest. Last year, the United States imported more than 200,000 tons of salmon raised off the coasts of British Columbia, Chile and elsewhere.

The Environmental Working Group tested Canadian-grown salmon from two Fred Meyer stores and a Safeway in Portland. It also tested salmon from other countries bought at stores in San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

Farmed salmon on average contained PCB concentrations of 27 parts per billion, while wild salmon averaged about 5 parts per billion, the Environmental Working Group report said.

Both fall well within the food and drug administration’s limits of 2,000 parts per billion.

But the EPA recommends against eating fish more than twice a week if it contains PCB levels greater than 6 parts per billion.

The long-term risk posed by PCBs in human diets is poorly known, experts say.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!!

[TheBattman]

Where are the PCB's coming from? First guess would be in chemicals used for disease, weed control, etc.

[SpaceBar]

This article is so flawed as a serious exposition of fact as to be laughable.

[Shmokey]

I'm not scared. I'm even going to BBQ my PCB filled salmon. How many fags is that equal to?

[.38sw]

Wish I had a maid. I can't even get my husband to do the BBQing. *sigh*

I saw this article in my paper this morning - I'm still going to eat salmon - I like it!

[Pylot]

The PCB levels in these fish are a non issue.

The mercury levels in all wild ocean fish are a huge concern.

Two servings of wild ocean fish a week is enough to set off a mercury reaction in most people.

Fish in the Eastern half of the US, particularly the easternmost states are all carrying mercury levels that are dangerous to anyone. In North Carolina residents are urged not to eat more than one meal a week of freshwater bass.

The mercury contamination comes from years of Coal Burning dumping mercury into the atmosphere which is then rained into the lakes and rivers.

[fishbabe]

in lots of areas,farmed salmon is all you can get in winter....i sell farmed salmon and people are cursing about itbut then they buy it...folks,the only way the stores will listen to you is if you stop buying farm raised anything...after all even the clams,oysters,trout and all shrimp are farm raised.. yes folks the next time you buy shrimp or prawns ask where they come from..its the asian countries that are farming them!!!!!

[Bluntpoint]

Are they telling me I can finally throw my PCB shaker/dispenser away?

I can finally get that PCB taste right out of the package!

[Twinkie]

It's supper! You're a Yankee! And you wouldn't help
me out with anything but a picture of Inspector
Clousseau - and he was French!

[Twinkie]

Actually it was. Salmon croquettes with dill sauce.
Just ask Robert Redford. It's their specialty at
Sundance Ranch.

[MichaelDammit]

waaaaaaaaaaahhhhh........give me some extra PCBs....they are good for you.....

[MonroeDNA]

Enviro-whackos can't stand the thought of farm-raised anything. That is because their real goal is anti-capitalism.

It is just a means to an ends. Same with Global warming.

[Tijeras_Slim]

They've still got a ways to go before we can use the fish as transformers.

[Jackie222]

I dearly love catfish and eat a lot of them. Wonder if they have been tested? They certainly are raised on farms too.

[Jackie222]

For one thing, it would substantially reduce the demand for the fish that are caught for fish meal, which are important to the whole ocean ecosystem.

which add mercury to the PBC's...........lol.

[Jackie222]

opps........PBC'S = PCB's