News Coverage
High level of contamination in farmed salmon, researchers say
Published July 29, 2003
A study by an environmental organization finds that farmed salmon has much higher levels of dangerous chemicals than those in wild salmon. However, nutritionists maintain that the benefits from the popular fish outweigh any dangers.
The Environmental Working Group said laboratory tests for levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) raised health concerns on seven of 10 samples of salmon bought from supermarket shelves, much of which is farmed salmon.
The group purchased the fish in Portland, Ore., San Francisco and Washington. The highest levels of PCBs were found in samples of farmed salmon from Scotland and Iceland, and the lowest levels in those from Chile. The group said three other independent tests have reported similar findings involving PCB levels in farmed fish.
Kristina Thayer, a senior scientist with the organization, blamed the PCB problem on practices of fish farms using fish meal made from small fish that commercial trawlers capture at sea.
''There ought to be a better way,'' Thayer said. She said the study was intended ''to raise a red flag'' to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that more tests of salmon are needed and regulations should be updated to keep contaminated fish off the market.
PCBs, once used as a lubricant in electrical generators, were banned in 1979 but store up in fats and accumulate through the food chain in the environment. At high doses, the chemical is believed to cause neurological problems and cancer.
The U.S. Agriculture Department says most of the salmon sold in the United States comes from Chile and Canada. About 11 percent comes from American fish farms that are located primarily in Maine and Washington state, and 9 percent from Norway, the United Kingdom and other countries.
Representatives of the fish industry said PCB levels in salmon are much lower than levels set by the Food and Drug Administration.
''We fully comply with the law and have a very safe and healthy product,'' said David Rideout, executive director of the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance. ''I have got a lot of faith in the food system of North America.''
The Environmental Working Group said it wants the FDA to lower its tolerance levels for PCBs to bring them into line with more stringent standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency. The organization said the FDA has not adjusted its PCB standards since 1984.