PCB's In Fish

[cheddar cheese]

I am wondering about high fish consumption. For example, the EPA set a safe level of PCB consumption at 10 ppb (parts per billion) per week from fish. That was in '99. So maybe they're even more conservative now?

The average level of PCBs in farmed salmon (90 grams) is 36.7 ppb; for wild salmon, it was 4.7 ppb.

Clearly, some fish are worse offenders than others. But common fish such as tuna, grouper, orange roughy, not only have PCBs - they also have high levels of mercury.

This makes me feel that I should limit fish consumption to 2-3x a week, max.

PS: I found this - which may suggest that eating low-fat fish, baked, helps reduce PCB levels.

Is there a way to reduce PCBs in fish to make them safer to eat?
The OEHHA recommends that you clean and gut the fish you catch before cooking it because some chemicals, including PCBs, tend to concentrate in the organs, particularly in the liver. PCBs are mainly stored in the fat and can be reduced by getting rid of the fat. You should also trim the fat, remove the skin, and fillet the fish before cooking.

......discuss



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[MAYO]

I would like to see the source for the supposed PCB levels of farmed versus wild fish. PCB levels are subject to bioaccumulation. A fish eats, say kelp, which is contaminated. Those PCBs are stored i fat and detoxifying organs, liver in this case. The next time the fish feeds, if it again eats contaminated food, the level of PCBs will rise. Farmers would have to be feeding the fish contaminted food in order to produce higher levels of PCBs in their salmon. Only a minute amount of total PCBs are passed down from parent to offspring. As for ways to deal with PCB and heavy metal consumption, green tea when consumed in close proximity to contamined fish has been shown to reduce absorption by a high percentage.... Largely I think it is mostl EPA hype. We would see huge numbers of people with heavy metal poisoning symptoms if the contamination were as bad as it is made out to be. That being said I am NOT saying that there are no contaminated areas with dangerously contaminated wildlife...just much fewer that alleged.

 

[Ms.Wetback]

Seems like organic chicken is the way to go. We used to eat allot of fish but have cut back due to the pollutants.
Now we only eat when out to dinner, never cook at home anymore.

 

[cheddar cheese]

I would like to see the source for the supposed PCB levels of farmed versus wild fish. PCB levels are subject to bioaccumulation. A fish eats, say kelp, which is contaminated. Those PCBs are stored i fat and detoxifying organs, liver in this case. The next time the fish feeds, if it again eats contaminated food, the level of PCBs will rise. Farmers would have to be feeding the fish contaminted food in order to produce higher levels of PCBs in their salmon. Only a minute amount of total PCBs are passed down from parent to offspring. As for ways to deal with PCB and heavy metal consumption, green tea when consumed in close proximity to contamined fish has been shown to reduce absorption by a high percentage.... Largely I think it is mostl EPA hype. We would see huge numbers of people with heavy metal poisoning symptoms if the contamination were as bad as it is made out to be. That being said I am NOT saying that there are no contaminated areas with dangerously contaminated wildlife...just much fewer that alleged.

Yes I would like to read some as well. My guess is what the farmed fish are fed, from what I have seen it seems fishmeal & fish oils are used to fatten them which is inexpensive and has higher concentrated PCB content.

 

[MAYO]

That makes perfect sense then b/c PCBs and heavy metals from the fish biproducts used in the feed would be deposited in the farmed fish....naughty fish farmers.

 

[PillarofBalance]

Looks like the contamination does come from the feed... Can't say I'm surprised.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045653507004663

[URL]http://www.ewg.org/reports/farmedpcbs

[/URL]

 

[biguglynewf]

Fish feed and penned life ='s not a great situation for farm raised fish.

However I'd be more worried about other contaminants than pcb's. They're persistence gives them more of a bad name than anything else.

 

[Lifter]

We get PCB's in the fish out of the Hudson. I was told you could eat one fish per year but I think I'll pass.

 

[Lizard King]

We get PCB's in the fish out of the Hudson. I was told you could eat one fish per year but I think I'll pass.

Hudson is coming back and they mean the East River, not the rest o the Hudson. They introduced oysters and I think muscles to clean I up.