FDA Allowed Unsafe Levels of Contaminants

The Food and Drug Administration underestimated the cancer risk from contaminants that can accumulate in seafood when the agency allowed commercial fishing to resume in the Gulf of Mexico after the BP oil spill disaster, a study by Miriam Rotkin-Ellman and Gina Solomon of the Natural Resources Defense Council found.  

The study was published online by the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

 

They found that by using flawed assumptions and outdated risk assessment methods, FDA allowed up to 10,000 times too much contamination and failed to identify risks for pregnant women and children.

 

Based on these findings, NRDC has filed a petition asking FDA to protect the public, especially pregnant women, children, and people who eat a lot of seafood, by setting a standard that limits the level of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in seafood. PAHs are chemicals found in oil, industrial pollution, and urban run-off that can cause cancer, birth defects, neurological delays and liver damage.

 

The study concluded that "FDA risk assessment methods should be updated to better reflect current risk assessment practices and to protect vulnerable populations such as pregnant women and children."