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Health risk high toxin levels found in whale meat
The Asahi Shimbun
18th January 2003
Along with PCBs, the health ministry says 10% of whale meat is mislabeled.
Chances are, next time you eat whale meat it is loaded with toxins.
The health ministry studied several varieties of whale meat and found many samples contain unacceptable levels of toxic chemicals, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and methyl mercury.
The poisonous substances were mostly detected in fat and muscle samples from five Baird's beaked whales captured off the northern Sanriku region and in the Sea of Okhotsk.
The ministry's research group detected PCB levels of between 5 and 11 parts per million (ppm) in the fat of five Baird's beaked whales and methyl mercury levels of between 0.37 and 1.3 ppm in the whales' muscles.
Health ministry standards set in 1972-73 state a provisional limit of 0.5 ppm for PCBs and 0.3 ppm for methyl mercury in seafood.
Levels of PCBs and methyl mercury in fat and muscle samples from minke whales caught in the Antarctic Ocean-which constitute the bulk of whale meat on the market-were within the standards, however.
``People are unlikely to eat whale meat every day, so there is little reason for concern,'' a ministry official said. ``Some caution is called for, however, because the levels are high in some types of whale.''
Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare researchers tested levels of PCBs and methyl mercury in the muscles, fat and internal organs of seven types of whale whose capture is permitted under international law and those captured for research purposes.
The survey also found about 10 percent of whale meat on the market is mislabeled. In some cases, meat from Baird's beaked whale was labeled as that from minke whale.
Health ministry officials will join hands with the fisheries agency to order the industry to label whale products correctly.
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