washingtonpost.com
Report Suggests High PCB Levels In Farmed Salmon

By Eric Pianin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 30, 2003; Page A02


A sharp rise in the consumption of farmed salmon may be posing a
health threat to millions of Americans because of high levels of PCBs
that have been found in limited samples of the popular fish, according
to a study released yesterday.

Diet- and health-conscious Americans have turned to salmon in recent
years, and about 23 million people eat the fish more than once a
month. But a study by the Environmental Working Group found that 7 of
10 farmed salmon recently purchased at grocery stories in the
District, San Francisco and Portland, Ore., contained concentrations
of PCBs that were 16 times higher than those found in wild salmon
fished from the ocean and roughly four times higher than those in beef
and other seafood.

Most salmon consumed in the United States is produced on aquatic farms
and is fed fish meal that consists of mostly ground-up small fish that
have absorbed PCBs. PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, have been
banned in the United States since the late 1970s and are among a dozen
chemical contaminants targeted for worldwide phase-out under the U.N.
treaty on persistent organic pollutants. PCBs, which were used as
industrial insulators, are persistent in the environment and have been
linked to cancer and impaired fetal brain development.

"When Congress banned PCBs in 1976, no one contemplated that 20-odd
years later we would have invented a new industry that re-concentrates
these toxins in our bodies," said Jane Houlihan, vice president for
research at the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization.

The group assessed the possible health threat by correlating data from
several relatively small international studies of PCB levels in salmon
with industry data on consumers' eating habits.

Its report drew immediate condemnation from representatives of the
farmed salmon industry, who said the group had used skimpy research to
engage in "scare tactics." The industry spokesmen disputed many of the
study's findings and stressed that PCB levels in farmed salmon are
well below limits set by the Food and Drug Administration in 1984.

"Salmon farmers are concerned about meeting food safety standards --
that is the basis of our operations," said Alex Trent, acting
executive director of Salmon of the Americas, an advocacy group
representing farmed salmon producers in the United States, Canada and
Chile. "What the EWG says in their report has nothing to do with
farmed salmon exceeding current FDA standards for PCBs or any other
currently accepted food safety issues related to farmed salmon."

The environmental group said the FDA rules are out of date and should
be brought in line with Environmental Protection Agency standards for
PCB levels in salmon caught by recreational fishermen -- standards
they say are "500 times more protective" than the FDA standards.

An FDA official said yesterday his agency, beginning in 2000, had
"ramped up" its review of the prevalence of PCBs in salmon and other
foods, and will consider other strategies once the investigation is
complete, including revising its advice to consumers or revising its
standards for the farm salmon industry.

"Standards are always subject to revision based on what the science
tells us and new risk assessments tell us," said Terry Traxell,
director of the office of plant and dairy foods and beverages. He
added, "Based on everything we know about PCB in salmon, the FDA
maintains its current advice to consumers to not alter their
consumption of salmon or other fish, which is highly nutritious."


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