Real hammer!Freshwater fish in the United States contains carcinogenic "permanent chemicals", eating one is equivalent to drinking sewage for a month!

(Source: The Hill)

Eating a single freshwater fish caught from a river or lake in the United States is equivalent to drinking a month's worth of sewage, contaminated with toxic "permanent chemicals", warns a new study published Tuesday.

Ubiquitous and harmful "permanent chemicals"

This invisible chemical substance called PFAS was born in the 1940s. Because of its good waterproof and heat resistance properties, it is widely used in non-stick pans, textiles, fire-fighting foams and food packaging.

The main uses of PFAS (Source: Wateronline)

However, PFAS, perfluorinated and polyfluoroalkyl substances cannot be naturally decomposed,That means pollutants build up over time in the air, soil, lakes, rivers, food, drinking water, and even our bodies.

Studies have found that PFAS can lead to a range of serious health problems, including liver damage, high cholesterol, reduced immune response and many types of cancer.

Pollution of freshwater fish across the United States is serious

To assess PFAS contamination in local fish, a team of researchers analyzed more than 2013 fish samples from U.S. rivers and lakes between 2015 and 500.

According to a study published in the journal Environmental Research,The median level of PFAS in these fish was 9500 nanograms per kilogram.

Environmental Research paper: Indigenously caught freshwater fish in the United States is an important source of human intake of PFOS

Of the "forever chemicals" detected, nearly three-quarters were PFOS, the most common and dangerous of the thousands of forms of PFAS.

Eating a freshwater fish produced in the United States is equivalent to drinking sewage for a month

The researchers calculated that eating one U.S.-grown freshwater fish was equivalent to drinking water with a PFOS concentration of 48 parts per trillion for a month.

Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency set the level of PFOS in safe drinking water at 0.02 parts per trillion.

In other words, eating a freshwater fish produced in the United States is equivalent to drinking sewage with PFOS exceeding 2400 times the standard for a month.

(Source: Newfood magazine)

The study also said the total PFAS levels in freshwater fish were 278 times higher than those in commercially available fish.

David Andrews, a senior scientist with the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, who led the study, told AFP he grew up fishing and eating fish.

"In my eyes, fish has become a container for PFAS," Andrews said.

He added that "the findings are particularly concerning when considering vulnerable populations, some subsistence or traditional fishers, who rely on fish as their main source of protein".

The Great Lakes are the most polluted

PFAS were detected in all 152 fish samples tested in the Great Lakes study, and overall levels of PFOS were higher in Great Lakes fish compared to national levels.

(Source: Geology)

Andrews said,The Great Lakes and other lakes and ponds may be relatively more polluted by PFAS than rivers and streams because the water systems in these basins are relatively static and circulate less frequently.

Response to strict regulation of PFAS

With the improvement of people's health awareness, the calls for stricter regulation of PFAS are getting louder.

"This research makes me very angry that companies that make and use PFAS are polluting the planet and not being held accountable," Andrews said.

Patrick Byrne, an environmental pollution researcher at Liverpool John Moores University in the UK who was not involved in the study, said PFAS "may be the biggest chemical threat facing humanity in the 21st century".

"This study is important because it provides the first evidence of direct transfer of PFAS from fish to humans,” he told AFP.

Andrews called for stricter regulation to end all non-essential uses of PFAS.

(Source: Locus Technologies)

Marketed fish is safer than wild caught

The study also stated thatwild caughtTotal PFAS levels in freshwater fish were 278 times higher than those in commercially available fish.

(Source: davidsbeenhere)

Andrews explained,Some commercially caught fish may be less polluted because they are grown in controlled aquaculture environments.He added that, in addition,Saltwater fish also contain much less PFAS becauseLarge-scale ocean fishing often occurs farther offshore, where PFAS contamination is further diluted.

reference

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pfas-forever-chemicals-one-fish-us-lakes-rivers-month-contaminated-water/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935122024926?via%3Dihub

https://thehill.com/policy/equilibrium-sustainability/3815490-study-suggests-us-freshwater-fish-highly-contaminated-with-forever-chemicals/

Real hammer!Freshwater fish in the United States contains carcinogenic "permanent chemicals", eating one is equivalent to drinking sewage for a month!

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