As the new home of WashPIRG's environmental work, Environment Washington can be contacted regarding this news release.
Results from a recent study
show that several species of fish in Lake Washington are contaminated with high
levels of PCBs, prompting the Department of Health to issue an interim fish
advisory warning people, particularly pregnant women and children, to limit
their consumption. The study found that concentrations of these toxic chemicals
in large northern pike minnow are some of the highest levels recorded in Washington
State. Other PCB-contaminated species include large yellow perch and cutthroat
trout.
“We're encouraged that
the Department of Health has stepped up its efforts to warn people of the potential
harm from consuming certain Lake Washington fish,” said Mo McBroom, of
the Washington Public Interest Research Group (WashPIRG). “But pregnant
women shouldn’t have to worry when they sit down at the dinner table that
their local fish has been marinated in toxic chemicals.”
PCBs are human-made chemical
compounds that were banned almost 30 years ago after scientists determined that
they cause cancer and affect fetal development. PCBs, as well as other chemicals
that are still widely used, persist in the environment and build up in the food
chain. The Department of Ecology has implemented a program to address persistent
toxic chemicals, and is currently considering the phase out of toxic flame retardant
chemicals, or PBDEs. PBDEs are chemicals cousins to PCBs, but are still widely
used in products such as furniture, electronics, and textiles. PBDEs have been
found in high levels in fish, house dust, and women’s breast milk in the
Northwest, and Ecology has determined that action must be taken to ban these
chemicals. . However, the recent Lake Washington fish study did not test for
PBDEs.
“We’re still dealing
with mess left from PCBs used over 30 years ago,” said McBroom. “It
boggles my mind that, even as we’re warning people about PCB contamination
in fish, we’re still using and releasing into the environment other persistent
toxic chemicals like PBDEs.”
WashPIRG, Washington Toxics
Coalition and other environmental and public health groups are pushing for swift
state action to address the problem of persistent toxic contamination in Washington
State. In the short term, the groups are urging the State Legislature to enact
a ban on all PBDEs during the next legislative session.
”Right now, Washington
State has the opportunity to prevent the next environmental health crisis and
ban all PBDEs,” said Laurie Valeriano, Policy Director for the Washington
Toxics Coalition.
