Study finds high level of mercury, PCBs in whale meat

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/index-e.htm

October 21, 1999

Yomiuri Shimbun

Whale and dolphin products for public consumption are
contaminated with high levels of mercury, dioxins and polychlorinated
biphenyls, commonly known as PCBs, a joint study conducted by Japanese, U.S. and British universities has revealed.

A group of researchers from Daiichi College of
Pharmaceutical Sciences in Fukuoka, Harvard University in the United States and the University of Greenwich in Britain plans to submit a document to the Health and Welfare Ministry and the Fisheries Agency to request them to take measures to alleviate the problem. The group claims that prolonged consumption of whale meat may result in health problems.

Although research has been conducted on the effects of
chemical substances on wild marine mammals, this is the first study into the contamination of whale meat for public consumption.

The group, which includes Koichi Haraguchi, an assistant

professor at Daiichi College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, randomly
selected and examined whale meat sold at fish markets and
supermarkets in Tokyo and five prefectures, including Osaka. They analyzed 61 samples, including whale products such as red meat, fatty cuts and processed foods, to examine possible levels of mercury, PCBs and organic chlorinated compounds. The species and living environments of the whales were identified through DNA tests.

Seventeen of 20 samples, or 85 percent, identified as
having been processed from smaller whales, such as toothed whales
and dolphins living in Japanese waters, were found to have higher mercury
levels than the provisional standard of 0.4 microgram per gram. Mercury
levels detected in some samples of stewed dolphin livers were 500 times
that of standard levels.

Small whale species contained a maximum of 8.9
micrograms of PCBs, about 18 times more than the provisional standard of 0.5 microgram. Half of all samples taken from minke whales and small whale species in the northern hemisphere were discovered to contain levels of PCBs higher than the provisional standard.

This indicates that the contamination of whale meat is
widespread. Small whale species were found to contain a maximum of
209 picograms of highly toxic dioxins, coplanar PCBs, more than 100 times the amount found in seafood.