Facts About PCB's and Salmon

[Jill123]

I get a weekly email from our butcher (they own a small but excellent chain of meat/specialty food stores throughout the metro area), and they included the following that I thought some of you might be interested in. PS -- The chain is called Tony's, so that's what they're talking about when they mention Tony.


Facts About PCB's and Salmon
Recent news stories about PCB’s in salmon have caught everyone’s eye -- especially here at Tony’s where we go to great lengths to provide you with the finest foods possible. We’ve been doing our homework and have found a tangled mess -- with scary warnings about a favorite food as well as accusations of special interest, irresponsible speculation and questionable motivation. We offer you our best attempt at an objective understanding based upon current facts relevant to salmon lovers.

What Are PCB’s and How Did They Get Into Our Food?
PCB's are a class of chemicals known as polychlorinated biphenyls. Manufactured since 1929 they’re used in products from hydraulic fluid to carbonless copy paper, and have long been the fluid of choice for transformers and capacitors. While their manufacture was banned in the US in 1976, equipment containing PCB's are still in use worldwide.

PCB contamination exists due to historic uses and dumping throughout the world. Disposal into waterways has caused PCB contamination of rivers, oceans, soils and even the polar ice cap. As a result, many forms of wildlife and food sources now contain trace amounts of PCB’s.

PCB’s are resistant to degradation and therefore persist for many years in the environment. Furthermore, they bioaccumulate in the foodchain and are stored in the body fat of animals and humans.

Facts About PCB Risks
Potential PCB contamination is not limited to farmed salmon, a host of other foods and our drinking water are also susceptible.

Most of the information about the effect of PCB’s on humans comes from cases of very high dose contaminations. More study is needed, and underway, to understand what risks, if any, are presented by PCB’s in low doses.

The FDA tolerance level for PCB’s is 2000 parts per billion (ppb). Samples tested from salmon two years ago were 27 ppb worldwide and 19 ppb in the US. Which means salmon sold in the United States is typically at 1/100th of the FDA’s tolerance level for PCB’s. Changes and improvements in feeding over the last 10 years continue to lower levels.

The study tested salmon raw, with the skin on. The FDA noted that removing the skin and grilling would eliminate a significant amount of potential pollutants, if any are present.

EPA guidelines suggest an increase in lifetime cancer risk of people consuming recommended salmon levels of two, 2-ounce portions weekly to be on the order of one in one hundred thousand, or a one thousandth of one percent increase.

What is Being Done?
Salmon farmers are extremely environmentally conscious and abhorred by the fact that PCB’s exist in food chain at any level. Solving this issue has been their top priority for several years now.

The samples in this study were obtained about two years ago and in that time PCB levels in farmed salmon have decreased significantly because of continuing industry efforts. This is omitted from the published Hites report.

PCBs can be introduced to farmed fish from fishmeal and oil. Meal and oil for fish feed are formulated from the least contaminated sources possible. Additionally, the industry has reduced fishmeal and oil use by over 60 percent in the past decade with the substitution of vegetable sources.

Benefits VS Risks
Salmon is an unparalleled source of Omega-3 fatty acids, well-documented for it’s health benefits in the prevention of Coronary Heart Disease, reductions in the incidence of Alzheimer’s and depression, and enhancements in the health of young children. Read more about the health benefits of salmon.

It is important for consumers to know that contaminant levels vary based on where the salmon is raised, and that the U.S. market is supplied by numerous production locations. In the United States, over 90 percent of the farmed salmon consumed is raised in North and South America where the PCB contaminants are a fraction of the worldwide level.

The comprehensive report by the National Academy of Sciences published in June 2003 on this subject recommends that the consumption of fish not be restricted to achieve reduction in PCBs in the total diet because of the increasing evidence of health benefits compared to the unproven risks.

EPA guidelines indicates an increase in lifetime cancer risk with the recommended salmon consumption levels on the order of one in one hundred thousand, or one thousandth of a percent increase, as compared to a decrease in the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) on the order of 30 percent.

Many feel that the Hite’s report’s use of levels based solely on increased risk is misleading and potentially dangerous to the health and welfare of Americans.

[SusanMac]

Really interesting. Thx for posting. While they clearly have a specific opinion on the issue, I'm not surprised by some of the claims. I always take new reports on food & health with a grain of salt (like the salmon/cancer claim), as there's typically a study with an opposing view.

[sneezles]

Interesting article but leaves out the fact that:

If farmed salmon with the average PCB level found in this study were caught in the wild, EPA advice would restrict consumption to no more than one meal a month. But because farmed salmon are bought, not caught, their consumption is not restricted in any way.

This is because the EPA sets health guidance levels for PCBs in wild-caught salmon, and its standards, which were updated in 1999 to reflect the most recent peer-reviewed science, are 500 times more protective than the PCB limits applied by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to commercially-sold fish. The FDA has not updated its PCB health limit for commercial seafood since it was originally issued in 1984. In the intervening two decades new scientific research has shown that the PCBs that build up in fish and people are more potent cancer-causing agents than originally believed, and that they present other health risks as well, in particular neurodevelopmental risks to unborn children from maternal consumption of PCB-contaminated fish.

For those reasons it was right to inform the public of the risks...especially to pregnant women who consume salmon. And in relation to other meats consumed farmed salmon is by far the highest risk of PCB contamination because the feed is contaminated!

Seven of the farmed salmon we tested came from factory-scale farms in Canada, the U.S., and Iceland. Six of these seven were polluted with PCBs at levels that would be safe to eat no more than once a month, according to EPA health standards. About 23 million Americans eat salmon more than once a month, the majority of it farmed salmon. One salmon imported from Scotland contained PCBs at levels so high that EPA would restrict consumption to no more than six meals a year, if the salmon were caught, not bought.

The farmed salmon industry claims that both farmed and wild salmon can be eaten safely more than once a week. This claim relies on FDA’s outdated contamination limit. In EWG’s testing program, nine of 10 farmed salmon tested from five countries of origin failed EPA’s health-based limits for weekly consumption (6000 parts per trillion), exceeding the standard by an average of 4.5 times. A pilot study published by Canadian scientists last year showed that farmed Canadian salmon contain ten times the PCBs of wild Alaskan and Canadian salmon.

EWG’s analysis of seafood industry fish consumption data shows that one quarter of all adult Americans (52 million people) eat salmon, and about 23 million of them eat salmon more often than once a month. Based on these data we estimate that 800,000 people face an excess lifetime cancer risk of more than one in 10,000 from eating farmed salmon, and 10.4 million people face a cancer risk exceeding one in 100,000. The government's preferred level of increased risk from contaminants like PCBs is no more than one in one million, a threshold set to account for a regulatory system that addresses chemicals or chemical classes individually and is unable to set safe levels for the complex mixtures of hundreds of industrial chemicals to which people are exposed.

Farmed vs Wild

Standard fish farming practices, which include the use of contaminated fishmeal and the intentional fattening of farmed stock, create a cascade of problems that ultimately drive down the nutrient content of farmed salmon, and drive up the contamination levels relative to wild-caught salmon.

Farmed salmon are fed contaminated fishmeal. Farmed salmon are fed from a global supply of fishmeal and fish oil manufactured from small open sea fish, which studies show are the source of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in most farmed salmon. In three independent studies scientists tested 37 fishmeal samples from six countries, and found PCB contamination in nearly every sample (Jacobs 2002, Easton 2002, and CFIA 1999).

After testing fishmeal and fish oil, a team of U.K. scientists noted that “While diets based on marine fish oils are currently favored by the aquaculture industry, it is likely that these oils are contributing greatly to the contamination of farmed salmon by [persistent organic pollutants]” (Jacobs 2002b).

PCBs build up in salmon at 20 to 30 times the levels in their environment and their feed (Jackson et. al 2001), so even low concentrations of PCBs in fishmeal can become a concern for human health.

An expert food safety panel recently convened by the National Academy of Sciences noted that because of the “intensive management approach” of the aquaculture industry, PCBs in fishmeal can accumulate in fish tissues. The panel recommended that the government restrict the use of feed obtained from areas known to have high pollution levels (NAS 2003). Wild Alaskan salmon eat Pacific Ocean fish that the Academy scientists note are naturally lower in persistent pollutants.

Farmed salmon are intentionally fattened and can therefore accumulate more PCBs. The salmon farming industry intentionally fattens its fish to maximize market weight (Jacobs 2002), a process similar to fattening cows or hogs in a feed lot. As a result, an ounce of farmed salmon contains 52 percent more fat than an ounce of wild salmon, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA 2002). PCBs collect in fat, as opposed to muscle or other organs. Farmed salmon, because they are intentionally fattened, are efficient collectors of PCBs. Leaner, wild Alaskan salmon are less likely to accumulate high levels of PCBs.

Farmed salmon contains five to 10 times the PCBs of wild salmon. EWG’s tests confirm findings from three prior, independent studies in which scientists observed differences in contaminant levels between farmed and wild salmon. The average level of total PCBs in EWG's ten farmed salmon samples was 27.3 ppb, or 5.2 times higher than the average PCB level of 5.3 ppb in four wild salmon tested by Canadian scientists (Easton et al. 2002). Differences in the 12 dioxin-like PCBs appear to be even greater. In Ireland, Scotland, British Columbia, and Alaska studies show higher concentrations of dioxin-like PCBs in farmed salmon than in wild salmon (Easton et al. 2002, FSIA 2002a and 2002b, Axys 2003, and Jacob et al. 2002). In most of these cases, wild salmon were harvested from environments relatively free of industrial pollution. Farmed fish raised in these same environments ate fishmeal with higher levels of PCBs than the native fish consumed by wild salmon.

[Jill123]

Originally posted by sneezles
Farmed salmon are fed contaminated fishmeal. Farmed salmon are fed from a global supply of fishmeal and fish oil manufactured from small open sea fish, which studies show are the source of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in most farmed salmon.

How can this be said with 100% certainty? Does every farm in the world feed their salmon from the same supply of fishmeal and fish oil? Is all fishmeal and all fish oil inherently contaminated?

[SusanMac]

Another question....isn't this true of ALL farm-raised fish? I would assume (uneducated guess, of course) that the same companies making feed for farm-raised salmon also provide feed for catfish, etc. This report is on salmon because that's what was studied. Does anyone know about all the other farm-raised fish?

I'm going to a class next week at Whole Foods on sustainable fish. Shoud be very interesting!

[TerriS]

Here's an article from today's Washington Post Food section trying to sort it out:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12382-2004Jan13.html

I know I just had, for the first time, yummy salmon filets (farm, Atlantic) that I bought frozen from Trader Joe's and they were so darn good (first time I'd cooked salmon at home except salmon burgers) that I am really bummed at the prospect of cutting back consumption! I wish there weren't so many different versions of the story! Sigh.

Farm-Raised Salmon: Is It Safe?


By Renee Schettler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 14, 2004; Page F03

Confused about salmon?

In light of recent research indicating that farm-raised salmon contains considerably higher levels of PCBs and other cancer-causing contaminants than does wild salmon, many consumers find themselves with a new worry. They know salmon has certain health benefits but must weigh them against the risks of the farmed fish.

The little white signs in the stores don't always distinguish the type of salmon in plain terms.

Wild salmon is typically labeled as such. However, it helps to know that almost all North American wild salmon comes from Alaska. If the sign simply indicates "Alaskan," you may safely assume the salmon is wild.

Farm-raised salmon isn't as simple to identify. Most farm-raised fish hails from the Atlantic. See a sign that says "Atlantic" next to the salmon at the fish counter, and those fish likely come from a farm, whether in Canada, Norway, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland or, increasingly, Chile and New Zealand. Anything labeled "Icelandic" is also farm-raised.

(Although some fish farming, or aquaculture, operations subscribe to more healthy and environmentally friendly practices than others, it is impossible to learn that from the sign. Inquire of the store what its requirements are of its salmon suppliers.)

Also consider the time of year. Because wild salmon are caught when they spawn, they are available fresh only from mid-May through late September. (Frozen, not fresh, wild salmon is increasingly available year-round at many supermarkets, including Trader Joe's and Whole Foods Market.)

Or, if you can't tell if the salmon is wild or farm-raised, you can ask.

And then there's price. Wild salmon can cost anywhere from two to three times as much as farm-raised salmon and as much as $25.99 per pound.

If you purchase farm-raised salmon, consider that most of the contaminants are found in the skin and the insulating layer of fat just below the skin. Though much of the fat is rendered during cooking, you may wish to remove the skin.

WILD SALMON are anadromous, meaning they hatch in fresh-water rivers, swim out to saltwater for most of their adult lives and instinctively return to their natal rivers in time to reach the shallow waters before they spawn.

Years of battling chilly, turbulent ocean currents result in a lean, firm flesh that is marbled with fat. Another insulating layer of fat is just under the skin. The colder the water and the longer the journey to spawn, the more fat and muscle the fish will have reserved.

Wild salmon's brilliant reddish-orange hue stems from a diet of crustaceans and marine plant life, which contain astaxanthin, a naturally occurring pigment.

FARM-RAISED

Most farm-raised, or aquaculture, salmon spend the first six months in a fresh-water hatchery and then are transferred to offshore saltwater pens. Conditions at fish farms vary considerably. The salmon are often crowded into pens and exercise little, resulting in high fat content but with little marbling.

Farm-raised salmon are generally sustained on a diet of processed feed that contains supplemental, naturally occurring or synthetic, dyes to give them the rich orange color of wild salmon. Fish that are fed such dyes must now be labeled as "color-added."

The PCBs and other contaminants are believed to be introduced to farmed fish through their feed. Some aquaculturists release their farm-raised salmon into the wild to allow the fish to reap the benefits of a natural diet and turbulent waters. (Spawning instincts intact, the salmon generally return to the pen.)

While it may have little bearing on the question of contaminants, some fish hatcheries subscribe to a more environmentally friendly approach to aquaculture than others, ensuring that their feed is antibiotic-free. Others raise fish in above-ground, self-contained pools in which ocean water is pumped in to create a whirlpool current; the byproducts of these fish do not escape to pollute ocean waters.

Farm-raised salmon that are treated with antibiotics and pesticides are supposed to be quarantined in clean water for up to a year before they are harvested to ensure that such elements have been flushed from their systems but this will not remove PCBs or other heavy metals.

© 2004 The Washington Post Company

[sneezles]

Originally posted by Jill123


How can this be said with 100% certainty? Does every farm in the world feed their salmon from the same supply of fishmeal and fish oil? Is all fishmeal and all fish oil inherently contaminated?

Yes, and it's in the article I posted and part of what you quoted:

Farmed salmon are fed from a global supply of fishmeal and fish oil manufactured from small open sea fish, which studies show are the source of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in most farmed salmon. In three independent studies scientists tested 37 fishmeal samples from six countries, and found PCB contamination in nearly every sample (Jacobs 2002, Easton 2002, and CFIA 1999).


And my point was that the newsletter is simply a marketing tool. The sale of salmon for home cooking has sky-rocketed which is why farmed salmon was started...to prevent over-fishing of wild salmon. The probelm is that farmed salmon are not subject to the same standards as wild. As the article I posted stated if wild salmon had the same levels of PCBs as farmed salmon does then the FDA would recommend that it be consumed less than once a month.
Don't get me wrong I love salmon and would serve it more often if I had a DH who loved it. I only eat it at restaurants and when my DH is out of town. My concern is the fact that the standards differ because farmed salmon is not caught and the FDA needs to update it's requirements and salmon farmers need to do more to deal with this problem. It is a significant problem because there are times when farmed salmon "escape" due to large fish trying to get to them. These escapes cause inter breeding among wild salmon which only brings the PCB levels higher in the wild salmon.
My biggest problem with all of this is that these tests of farmed salmon have been done since at least 1999 and the level of PCBs has only gotten higher. Information has been kept from the consumer (and I'm sure it's due to some lobby group) and consumer health has been put in jeopardy-especially pregnant women (sorry but that is almost like saying tuna fish...never met a pregnant man...anyone know of another term for pregnant women?).
Your newsletter was sent by someone who probably relies on the sale of farmed salmon so IMHO it's rather one-sided.

[crlykat]

Hi Sneezles, Do you have a pointer to the article you posted? I would like to show my DH. Thanks a lot!

[sneezles]

Originally posted by crlykat
Hi Sneezles, Do you have a pointer to the article you posted? I would like to show my DH. Thanks a lot!

Here's the link: http://www.ewg.org/reports/farmedPCBs/es.php

[crlykat]

Thank you! :)