The International Joint Commission is advising in a new report that clearer, harsher wording be added to Great Lakes fish eating advisories. They want it to say eating too many Great Lakes fish can cause birth defects. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mike Simonson reports:
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The International Joint Commission is advising in a new report that
clearer, harsher wording be added to Great Lakes fish eating advisories.
They want it to say eating too many Great Lakes fish can cause birth
defects. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mike Simonson reports.
The report says the Great Lakes are cleaner than the bad old days of the
60’s and 70’s, but if improvement is to continue and human health protected,
more has to be done. International Joint Commission scientist David
Carpenter says they’re zeroing in on advisories about eating sport
fish.
“The levels of contamination are not increasing, many of them
are going down, but our understanding of the toxic effects of these
substances especially on the developing embryos of the fetus in humans has
increased so markedly… but in fact, I think we recognize that this is a
greater public health risk now than it was 20 years ago when the levels
were much higher.”
Carpenter says there’s evidence that mercury poisoning from eating too
many fish can lead to a lower IQ and behavioral problems in children.
The IJC and the National Wildlife Federation point a finger at coal-fired
power plants emissions for spreading mercury. EPA administrator
Carol Browner says they’re on the verge of deciding whether or not to
regulate those power plants.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Mike Simonson in Superior,
Wisconsin.