I'd posted an article some months ago about Arctic aboriginal children and the toxic neurological effects from consuming some of their traditional foods, such as mukluk (whale, seal and walrus blubber), which has become quite contaminated with dioxins and PCBs [IIRC, eating more than one cubic _centimeter_ of mukluk per week was rated harmful to growing children]. Now it seems that farmed salmon is joining the toxic food list:
"...The Science study analyzed two metric tons of wild and farmed salmon sold in North America, South America and Europe. Using Environmental Protection Agency health guidelines, the study concluded that consumers can safely eat four to eight meals of wild salmon a month, while consumption of more than one eight-ounce portion of farmed salmon a month in most cases poses an "unacceptable cancer risk." The study found that European farmed salmon had significantly greater contaminant loads than those farmed in North and South America. The Science study can be found at: http://www.pewtrusts.com/pdf/salmon_study.pdf "The clear message for consumers from the study is that wild salmon is much safer and healthier than farmed salmon," says Kathleen Schuler, Environmental Health Scientist with IATP. "FDA's existing fish consumption advice for women of child-bearing age and children doesn't distinguish farmed and wild fish; it also considers risks only from mercury contamination, and not risks from other known toxins like PCBs and dioxins." You can link to the secondary article above at http://www.bushgreenwatch.org/journalists_only.php --it's the Jan 14 article. This is the PubMed abstract of the Science article: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=14716013&dopt=Abstract Here is another study concluding that "The human health implications of eating farmed salmon are considered from the perspective of the current WHO and Health Canada (2000) tolerable daily intake (TDI) values for PCBs. Based on a TDI of 1 pg TEQ/kg bw/day, this analysis indicated a safety concern for individuals who on a regular weekly basis consume farmed salmon produced from contaminated feed." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11999769&dopt=Abstract And another study "confirms previous reports of relatively high concentrations of PCDDs, PCDFs and, especially, PCBs in farmed Scottish salmon. The results indicate that high consumption of salmon, particularly by children under 5 years, could lead to intakes above the tolerable daily intake (TDI) and tolerable weekly intake (TWI) for these chemicals, especially the PCBs.." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11993634&dopt=Abstract A preliminary study further suggests that escaped farmed salmon may have an adverse impact on wild salmon populations: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=14667333&dopt=Abstract "The high level of escapes from Atlantic salmon farms, up to two million fishes per year in the North Atlantic, has raised concern about the potential impact on wild populations...We thus demonstrate that interaction of farm with wild salmon results in lowered fitness, with repeated escapes causing cumulative fitness depression and potentially an extinction vortex in vulnerable populations." Debbi "If we are saying that the loss of species in and of itself is inherently bad -- I don't think we know enough about how the world works to say that." -Interior Department Assistant Secretary Craig Manson, appointed by President Bush to position overseeing the Endangered Species Act, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 12, 2003 __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/signingbonus _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
