- (HealthDayNews) -- Chemical contaminants in farm-raised
salmon are at unacceptably high levels and may dramatically increase the
risk of cancer, a new report claims.
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- http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=97&u=/hsn/20040109/hl_hsn
/toxinsinfarmraisedsalmonposehealthrisk&printer=1
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- The key contaminant, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB),
has been banned in the United States since the late 1970s. It is among
the "dirty dozen" chemical contaminants to be eliminated under
the United Nations ( news -web sites ) treaty on persistent organic pollutants.
PCBs have been linked to cancer and impaired fetal brain development.
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- "Levels of 14 different chemical contaminates pesticides
are higher in farmed salmon than in wild salmon," says co-researcher
Dr. David O. Carpenter, a professor of environmental health and toxicology
and director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the State
University of New York at Albany.
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- In the current study, the largest to date, Carpenter's
team tested more than 2 metric tons of farmed and wild salmon from around
the world.
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- They found farm-raised salmon had significantly higher
PCB levels and many chlorinated pesticides than wild Pacific salmon. The
researchers report the finding in the Jan. 9 issue of Science . High PCB
levels in farmed salmon result from the fish meal and fish oil they are
fed.
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- While these levels of PCBs are far below those called
dangerous by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ( news -web sites )
(FDA), they are unsafe by the standards used by the U.S. Environmental
Agency (EPA). FDA standards have not been changed since 1984.
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- The EPA sets acceptable levels for PCBs in wild salmon,
and its 1999 updated standards are 500 times more protective than the PCB
limits used by the FDA to rate fish sold commercially, according to a 2003
report on PCBs in salmon from the Environmental Working Group (EWG).
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- The EWG report notes new research shows the PCBs found
in fish and people are more potent cancer-causing agents than originally
thought.
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- Using the EPA standard, "to avoid an excessive risk
of cancer, one should reduce consumption of farm salmon," Carpenter
says. "On average, one meal of farmed salmon a month is what one should
not exceed," he adds. "And some European farmed salmon should
be eaten only once every four months."
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- The researchers suggest that because PCB levels in salmon
vary throughout the world, the fish should be labeled "wild"
or "farmed" and from where it came.
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- Carpenter notes the FDA's PCB limit is not health-based
(it is a regulatory advisory), while the EPA limit is based only on health
effects. "I hope the FDA and the EPA will come together and review
the standards, because the present circumstance is confusing to the consumer."
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- Salmon, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, has been
recommended as a food source that can significantly help reduce the risk
of heart disease. Carpenter points out that omega-3 fatty acids are also
in many other wild fish and in canola and flaxseed oil and soy.
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- More Americans are eating salmon and the annual worldwide
production of farmed salmon over the past 20 years has increased by a factor
of 40.
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- "We think that consumers should be overjoyed that
farmed salmon are between 1 to 2 percent of the FDA tolerance for PCBs,"
says Alex Trent, executive director of Salmon of the Americas, an industry
lobbying group. "There is absolutely no reason to be concerned about
PCBs in salmon any more than there is in any other food."
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- Trent goes on to say the industry tolerance for PCBs
is zero, and they are working to change the food mix given to salmon in
hopes of eliminating PCBs altogether within five years.
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- Trent accuses the researchers and the Pew Charitable
Trusts, which paid for the study, of having a political agenda. "The
agenda is that they don't like farmed salmon for reasons that don't have
to do with food safety," he says. Trent believes the real reason salmon
farming is criticized is because of its environmental impact.
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- Carpenter says that the Pew Charitable Trusts has a "forceful
position opposed to fish farming, because of the antibiotics used in feed
and pollution of coastal waters."
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- "But it is not a position that we [the researchers]
buy into. We have found the key for the salmon farming industry, which
is clean up the food you feed to the fish, and the problem will go away."
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- Jane Houlihan, vice president for research at the Environmental
Working Group, says this study confirms other studies that show that "it
is not safe for people to eat regularly farmed salmon."
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- She notes that using the EPA standard, farmed salmon
is safe to eat only about once a month. "Stay away from regularly
eating farmed salmon," Houlihan advises. She recommends wild salmon
as a good alternative.
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- PCBs have to be eliminated from farmed fish and the industry
has to find ways to farm fish that do not degrade the environment, Houlihan
says. It is time for the salmon farming industry to "clean up its
act," she adds.
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- However, Dr. Mike Gallo, a professor of toxicology and
public health at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, disagrees. He
says the study confirms the safety of farmed salmon based on FDA standards.
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- Gallo believes the EPA standards are unproved and only
hypothetical models. He also notes that PCBs are found in pork, lamb and
beef, foods that Americans eat more often then salmon.
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- Gallo also believes there is a strong bias against fish
farming by groups concerned with the environment.
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- Farmed salmon is much cheaper than wild salmon, making
it more available to consumers, Gallo says. "I don't think Americans
should change their diet based on this paper," he adds.
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- Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale Prevention Research
Center at Yale University School of Medicine and author of The Way to Eat
, says "there has long been concern that failure to feed farm-raised
salmon the green algae their wild counterparts eat would deplete their
flesh of health-promoting omega-3 fatty acids."
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- "There is evidence that this is occurring. Now we
can add new evidence that we are not merely depleting vital nutrients,
but replacing them with industrial byproducts," he says.
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- Katz adds that "overall, eating fish is health-promoting,
and eating salmon can be particularly so. But it is increasingly important
to know the source of those fish. Until or unless fish farmers step away
from the transgressions of their counterparts on land, consumers should
step away from their product, and ask for wild fish instead."
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- More information
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- To learn more about PCB contamination in fish, visit
the Environmental Working Group or the Environmental Protection Agency
.
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-
-
- Comment
- From Leaflady
- leaflady@leaflady.org
- 1-9-4
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- It is not just the farmed salmon that is a risk, it is
all farmed fish.
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- In addition to cancer risk, the risk of highly elevated
blood fats called triglycerides and and increase in choleterol often lead
to more cardiovascular problems.
-
- Although a vegan diet can help many people overcome weight
problems or major health challenges, it may not be the best choice for
the long-term. It is good that that fellow did so well by switching to
a vegan diet, however, this diet must be done properly or many nutritional
deficiencies occur. The deficiencies include, but are not limited to: too
low protein, too high carbohydrate, inadequate healthy fat, not enough
vitamins B12 and D, niacin, pantothenic acid and biotin, not enough calcium,
zinc, selenium and iron, and lastly the possibility of low energy and low
thyroid function.
-
- There has been no society on earth that exists without
some animal products in their diet (milk, cheese, eggs or meat), including
the Hunza. People should read Dr. Weston A. Price to learn more about nutrition
and degenerative illness.
-
-
- Comment
From Charlotte Franklin
1-10-4
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- Any vegan who eats a wide variety of fruits, vegetables,
whole grains, nuts, seeds and legumes; and supplements with vitamin B12
(and vitamin D if sun-deficient), will inevitably enjoy a state of health
superior to that of a meat-eater.
-
- While it's true that a vegan diet must be done 'properly'
in order to ensure optimal nourishment, the implication that meat-eaters
do not have to try hard to get all of the nutrients THEY need is simply
not borne out by facts. The average omnivorous American diet is not done
'properly' at all:
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- * 91 percent of Americans do not eat the suggested three
servings of vegetables and two servings of fruits on a daily basis [1]
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- * Iceberg lettuce, frozen potatoes (mostly French fries)
and potato chips account for a third of all vegetables eaten [2]
-
- * 80 percent of Americans do not consume the recommended
dietary allowance (RDA) for one or more of the essential nutrients on a
daily basis [3]
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- * 80 percent of Americans over age 25 are overweight
[4]
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- * 33 percent of Americans are obese [4]
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- * The average American gets twice as much protein as
his or her body needs. Excess protein has been linked to osteoporosis,
cancer, impaired kidney function and heart disease [5]
-
- Clearly, the average meat-eating American is undernourished
(and overweight)... so much for meat being the key to adequate nutrition.
In fact, quite the contrary:
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- * The vast majority, perhaps 80 percent to 90 percent,
of all cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and other forms of degenerative
illness can be prevented, at least until very old age, simply by adopting
a plant-based diet [6]
-
- As for taking nutritional advice from the Weston A. Price
Foundation... maybe I've read a few too many articles at Rense.com and
listened to the likes of Dr. Lorraine Day and Physicians Committee for
Responsible Medicine a little too much, but I think I'll take a pass on
any site that:
-
- * advocates eating fish, seafood, poultry, beef, lamb,
game, organ meats and eggs; milk products such as whole yogurt, cultured
butter, whole cheeses and fresh & sour cream;
-
- * encourages consumption of "nutrient-rich"
fats that have "nourished healthy population groups for thousands
of years" such as butter, beef and lamb tallow, lard and chicken,
goose and duck fat;
-
- * claims that: animal fats contain many nutrients that
protect against cancer and heart disease; vegetarians have just as much
atherosclerosis as meat eaters; protein consumption in the form of real
meat has no impact on bone density; little data exists to support the idea
that meat-eating leads to heart disease; meat, in particular red meat,
does not contribute to cancer;
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- * believes that mad cow disease is caused by toxic mineral
excess and organophosphate pesticides, and not from cows eating feed containing
animals.
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- A vegan diet is the best solution for our bodies, our
planet and all the life on it.
-
- For further reading, check out writings by John McDougall,
Dean Ornish, Michael Greger, Howard Lyman... or just do a little browsing
at Rense.com.
-
- [1] Government-sponsored National Health and Nutrition
Examinations Survey (NHANES-II) http://www.healingwithnutrition.com/newsclips/archive/drugdepletion.html
[2] U.S. Department of Agriculture study http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/health/5643680.htm
?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp [3] Nutritional survey sponsored
by the U.S. Department of Agriculture http://www.healingwithnutrition.com/newsclips/archive/drugdepletion.html
[4] Harris Poll 2002 http://www.diabetes.org/uedocuments/obesity.pdf [5]
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/protein.html [6] "China Project",
a long-term study of the relationship between diet and health, conducted
by Cornell University's nutritional biochemist Dr. T. Colin Campbell http://www.nutrition.cornell.edu/ChinaProject/index.html
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