Concern over Great Lakes fish will remain even after current toxins fade:
States a article at: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20090927/NEWS01/909270356/1002/NEWS
It Newsvine
New York’s advisories on consumption of Lake Ontario fish are based on chemicals that, for the most part, were banned decades ago and are increasingly rare in the
It goes on to inform us that “If current trends continue, officials say, the advisories based on those legacy pollutants can be moderated in the not-too-distant future.” Then we will have to worry about the emerging POPs such as brominated flame retardants.
The “experts” quoted in this article should really look at the recent lack of trends in PCB concentrations in waters all over the U.S. They are not trending down and they will not as long as they are only “banned” in half the world. Putting focus on emerging POPs instead of PCBs, chlordane, and toxaphene, all found even in Lake Superior at levels that cause fish fish to be too toxic to be eaten will result in never addressing the real problem … continuing use in developing countries.
Banning emerging POPs will not result in their control if the banning is not global. We all live on the same planet and POPs travel globally. It is time to wake up to that fact and get to the tough task of global banning.
Way back in the last century, from 1972 to 1985, when governments cared more about heath protection, the developed nations of the world banned PCBs and persistent pesticides such as chlordane, toxaphene, DDT, Mirex, Lindane Aldrin, and Dieldin. When circumpolar scientists studied the devastation to Arctic wildlife and human health from these compounds, they determined that they were still coming from developing nations who had not banned them from their growing industrial and agricultural economies.
The flow of these chemicals around the world affects all waters of the Northern hemisphere. PCBs diminish toward the north. Others race to the Arctic. Lake Superior, due to its northern location and cold, clear water, catches and holds a variety of these “banned” poisons. According to the USEPA’s 2008 Lakewide Management Plan, Lake Superior contains excessive amounts of PCBs, DDT, Dieldrin, and toxaphene. Toxaphene, the pesticide that replaced DDT in 1972 and was used until 1982, is present at nearly 15X the most lenient of target levels. This results in trout containing up to five parts per million of toxaphene in its “edible” flesh. If dirt contains a tenth of that amount, it must be classified as hazardous waste.
In the past century we were warned about eating fish with high toxaphene levels. A 1999 EPA advisory recommended virtually zero consumption of lean Lake Superior Trout. In a twist of blatant disregard for our health, Fish Consumption Guidelines from Ontario, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan dropped toxaphene. Health departments did this while researchers were finding that the immune system destruction and endocrine mimicking functions of these poisons were as bad as their cancer threat.
Lake Superior has changed in another way in the past decades. The population of Siscowet, an inedible Lake Trout variety with a high fat content, has mushroomed. In an amazing proposal, our government scientists are planning to harvest this deep dwelling source of omega acids by the millions of pounds, make them into capsules, and sell them as health supplements. This is the most toxic fish fat in North America, and the article describing this act of mass poisoning does not even mention toxics.
See: http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/newsletter/2009/09/stout_trout_eyed_for_market.html
This is insanity in action. Why are we so concerned about health care and so ignorant and deceitful about health protection? Please let your health departments and representatives know that you want to know what levels of known toxics are in your health supplements and that you do not want to consume banned substances disguised as health enhancements.
