Scientists Warn About Toxins In Europe's Fish

Seafood contaminated with dioxins, study say

Marlise Simons / New York Times 17dec00

PARIS -- Just as worried Europeans are turning their backs on beef and flocking to the fish counter, there is more bad news about dinner: Scientists have warned that they have found unacceptably high levels of toxic industrial chemicals in the region's seafood.

Experts from the Scientific Committee for Food, in a report prepared for the European Union, said fish both from fish farms and from seawaters seas are regularly contaminated by dioxins and similar toxins.

Fish oil and fish meal have the highest levels of these chemicals, the panel said. Dioxins, which are produced as a waste product by industrial plants and waste incineration, have been linked to hormone changes, cancer in animals and other severe disorders.

The scientists also called for changes in the levels of dioxin considered acceptable for human consumption.

"Nobody is saying we can't eat fish anymore, but consumers must be made aware that fish contributes significantly to the intake of dioxins," said Johan Reyniers, a European Union spokesman. This is particularly true, he said,

for fish from more polluted areas, such as the North Sea and the Baltic around Scandinavia.

The warning about fish comes as Europeans are already panicking about the spread of mad cow disease and the consumption of beef is dropping drastically. While they have not suspended the use of fish oil or fish meal, European officials said the governments will debate the new dioxin findings early next year and are likely to produce more pressure to reduce pollutants as fast as possible.

According to the new report, fish meal and fish oils of European origin have dioxin levels up to eight times as high as similar products from nonindustrial regions -- for example, waters off Peru and Chile. The fish meal and fish oil also contain up to 10 times more dioxin than is found in meat and eggs.

This is troubling because the fish meal is used in the diets of farmed fish and other food animals, such as chickens and pigs.

If stricter limits for dioxins are set next year, related legislation is expected to provoke opposition from the strong fishery lobbies in North European countries, which have a sizable fish-meal industry. Europe produces 500,000 tons of fish meal a year.

Solutions may include removing the dioxins from the fish meal or replacing the feed with soy meal. Users argue that soy meal is a less effective feed because of its lower protein content.