Deadly Food On The Hook

By James Donahue

A new report by the Environmental Protection Agency warns Americans against eating fish in more than a third of our lakes and a quarter of our steams because they are laced with mercury, dioxin, PCB and pesticides.

The report goes on to say that nearly all of the fish tested in the United States contain elements of these and other industrial and agriculturally produced chemicals and that we need to be cautious about eating any fish.

Those caught in the most poisoned lakes and streams are apparently off limits for everybody. Eating them will only result in poisoning ourselves.

“It’s about trout, not tuna,” said EPA administrator Mike Leavitt. “It’s about what you catch on the shore, not what you buy on the shelf.”

Leavitt said the contamination of America’s fish stock is getting worse and worse, and appears to be threatening all of the fish in the country. He said nearly every time state officials look for pollution they find it.

He said the primary concern is for the health of children and pregnant women. But too much exposure to these particular chemicals has its affect on everybody.

Mercury attacks the nervous system. Exposure causes tremors, mood and personality changes. High levels of inorganic mercury salts can cause kidney damage. Adults exposed to methylmercury in fish can experience numbness or tingling in the extremities, sensory losses and loss of coordination.

Dioxin exposure causes a severe form of skin rash, or lesions that can last for weeks and sometimes years. They cause changes in metabolism and enzymatic activity in the liver. In animal studies dioxins are linked to nerve damage, birth defects, they affect the immune system and appear to cause cancer.

PCBs are found to affect the immune system in a variety of ways. Among the alarming effects is a link to non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

The wide range of pesticides all are linked to cancer, they damage the liver, affect the body’s immune system and in many cases hit the nervous system.

If you think resorting to ocean fish, or fish produced in fish farms will help you avoid trouble, think again. The fish farmed catches are found to be laced with all of the same toxins, and ocean fish not only are toxic, but they are disappearing because of over fishing, loss of their natural food supply (plankton) and global warming.

Ironically, humans need the natural oils found in fish for their own health.

It seems we have all but destroyed a vital source of food.

All is not lost, however. We still have lots of fish, but we need to stop polluting the waters where they live immediately, stop over-fishing the world stock, and give our sea life time to repair and regenerate itself.

Of course, we should not expect anybody to do this. Consequently…..for your health, stop eating fish. The sooner the better.