Study finds high level of mercury, dioxins, PCBs in whale meat

[John Visher <visherjc@crisscross.com>]

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/index-e.htm

      October 21, 1999

                Study finds high level of mercury, PCBs in whale meat

                Yomiuri Shimbun

                Whale and dolphin products for public consumption are
contaminated with
                high levels of mercury, dioxins and polychlorinated
biphenyls, commonly
                known as PCBs, a joint study conducted by Japanese, U.S.

and British
                universities has revealed.

                A group of researchers from Daiichi College of
Pharmaceutical Sciences in
                Fukuoka, Harvard University in the United States and the

University of
                Greenwich in Britain plans to submit a document to the
Health and Welfare
                Ministry and the Fisheries Agency to request them to
take measures to
                alleviate the problem. The group claims that prolonged
consumption of
                whale meat may result in health problems.

                Although research has been conducted on the effects of
chemical substances
                on wild marine mammals, this is the first study into the

contamination of
                whale meat for public consumption.

                The group, which includes Koichi Haraguchi, an assistant

professor at
                Daiichi College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, randomly
selected and
                examined whale meat sold at fish markets and
supermarkets in Tokyo and
                five prefectures, including Osaka. They analyzed 61
samples, including
                whale products such as red meat, fatty cuts and
processed foods, to
                examine possible levels of mercury, PCBs and organic
chlorinated
                compounds. The species and living environments of the
whales were
                identified through DNA tests.

                Seventeen of 20 samples, or 85 percent, identified as
having been
                processed from smaller whales, such as toothed whales
and dolphins living
                in Japanese waters, were found to have higher mercury
levels than the
                provisional standard of 0.4 microgram per gram. Mercury
levels detected in
                some samples of stewed dolphin livers were 500 times
that of standard
                levels.

                Small whale species contained a maximum of 8.9
micrograms of PCBs,
                about 18 times more than the provisional standard of 0.5

microgram. Half of
                all samples taken from minke whales and small whale
species in the northern
                hemisphere were discovered to contain levels of PCBs
higher than the
                provisional standard.

                This indicates that the contamination of whale meat is
widespread.

                Small whale species were found to contain a maximum of
209 picograms of
                highly toxic dioxins, coplanar PCBs, more than 100 times

the amount found
                in seafood.




             Copyright 1999 The Yomiuri Shimbun