PCB Jeebies

Reason writers around town: Does eating fish make you smarter, or just make you sick? At Tech Central Station, Ron Bailey digs in.

Comments

[Rick Barton]

Yes! Thank you Ron Bailey. I eat a lot of Salmon for the many health benefits that the omega-3 fatty acids bestow. Including the less well known evidence that the consumption of them are correlated with cancer prevention:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10576293&dopt=Abstract

I also eat salmon for the choline, which, I believe, is where the smart part is supposed to come in. And, of course salmon is "delish". I bought the PCB scare "hook, line and sinker" and have been eating more wild salmon filets (more expensive) and more canned salmon ( wild, but not as tasty) This scare could result in harm to folks health if they eat less salmon because of it!

We ought to get a hold of PEW:
[e-mail]
and tell them that we resent that this study they funded is being used irresponsibly by these Green "Fish Nazis"! (Cathy Young, please don't get mad at me)
Looking at their site I'm thinking that they get some of their funding from the Feds.

[Andy D.]

I've been eating more salmon recently, and I'm I'm happy to see this article. But I still worry about the trace metal content in fish... any good sources for information on this?

[Rick Barton]

Great title Tim! I feel like listening to some Talking Heads or Blondie.

[Rick C]

I'm not overly fond of salmon altho I do eat it occasionally. I'll make sure to have some soon to piss off the ecofreaks.

[AJMB]

Mmmmm . . . Salmon. If anybody wants a good dry rub for the BBQ, speak up. My wife's is killer. She also came up with a nice marinade involving maple syrup which caramelizes nicely on the 'Q. Operators are, as they say, standing by.

[Rick Barton]

joe:
"it is a wonderful thing that PCB levels are dropping. Thank God for the heavy handed federal regulation that made that happen."

I don't think that it was federal regulation that made this happen. The levels are way lower than the mandated levels. Did PCB regulation even go back this far?:

From Ron's article,
As University of Texas toxicologist Stephen Safe points out, levels of PCBs in fish have been falling for decades. Human exposure to PCB's is only 10 percent of what it was three decades ago and continues to fall.

[Rick Barton]

joe,
My reactions to your many posts have ranged all the way from: "Yes!" to "No Way!". I now have a new one: "I'm getting hungry".

[joe]

Rick, the manufacture and use of PCBs were outlawed. Tough to mandate levels lower than that!

[Rick Barton]

joe,
I was referring to the regulations for the PCB concentrations in salmon (fish).

Do you know in what year the manufacture and use of PCBs was outlawed? Not that I'm to lazy to google it myself right now or anything.

[joe]

I'm pretty sure it was the early 70s. Not that I'm too lazy to google it.

[joe]

Gotta love that old "look how small a part per million is!" dodge. Comparing it to distance is completely bogus, and Bailey must know this by now. Not good for your credibility.

Also, there is nothing wrong with a recommendation that pregnant women avoid contaminated fish, even if the levels are lower than the EPA's "safe" level. Those levels are based around the physiology of an adult male, not a fetus.

Very clever how you imply that the waste contamination and cross-breading issues are bogus without actually saying so. You get to assume they're bad, so the "latest scare" can be seen in the light of earlier bogus concerns, without actually demonstrating that those earlier scares were bogus.

One last note: yes, it is a wonderful thing that PCB levels are dropping. Thank God for the heavy handed federal regulation that made that happen.

[joe]

Oh, and "Mmmmmmmmm...salmon!" Little curry, hot red pepper or whatever, brown in a pan, then pop that pan right into a hot oven.

[Malver Aaron]

EMAIL: [e-mail]
IP: 203.162.3.147
URL: http://preteen-sex.info
DATE: 05/21/2004 02:39:24
The lesser of two evils is still evil.