http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=603
October 24, 2005
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility News Release
(www.peer.org)
Contact: Chas Offutt (202) 265-7337
RECORD LEVELS OF TOXIC PFCS IN MINNESOTA
FISH — Bioaccumulations in Food Chain Are Building; Fish
Advisory May Be Needed
Washington, DC — Alarmingly high
levels of a new toxic chemical have been found in Minnesota fish
in the Mississippi River near a 3M disposal site, according
to new state figures released today by Public Employees for Environmental
Responsibility (PEER). The record high levels
of the chemical found in the livers of predatory fish will be
magnified in the livers of mammals, including humans, who eat
those fish.
The chemicals are PFCs (perfluorochemical compounds) which bio-accumulate
in living tissue and do not break down in the environment. PFCs
tend to concentrate in blood and liver tissues of fish and mammals,
with those concentrations growing each step up the food chain.
The PFCs found in the latest study were
manufactured by 3M, which used the chemical in nationally
distributed products, such as Scotchgard, Teflon, Stainmaster
and Gore-Tex. While 3M began phasing out use of the chemical in
2000, it has already spread worldwide. Through 2002, 3M dumped
as much as 50,000 pounds of the chemical per year into the Mississippi
River from its Cottage Grove wastewater treatment plant.
Classified as a toxic, PFCs have caused birth defects and deaths
in animal studies. While not yet categorized as a human carcinogen,
the chemical has been associated with increased
risks of liver and bladder cancers. Once consumed by humans its
“elimination half-life” is slow, an estimated 8.67
years.
The new record fish concentrations were reported to a U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency forum by Dr. Fardin Oliaei, the coordinator
for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency program on emerging
contaminants. Sheryl Corrigan, the MPCA Commissioner, is a former
3M executive who has tried to block further investigations into
the chemicals. Dr. Oliaei has filed whistleblower and First Amendment
suits over obstruction of her research and her ability to publicly
report findings.
Dr. Oliaei found “the highest concentration
of [PFCs in] any fish tested to date, and the second highest concentration…for
any animal species tested worldwide” in the livers of smallmouth
bass caught in the Mississippi near the 3M site. Dr. Oleaei
recommends an aggressive expansion of biomonitoring, more extensive
sampling to pinpoint chemical hot spots and a review as to whether
fish advisories are needed.
“These disturbing fish contamination findings should be
of concern not only to Minnesota fisherman and hunters but to
everyone downstream, as well,” stated PEER Executive Director
Jeff Ruch, whose organization is providing legal representation
to Dr. Oliaei. “These findings underline how quickly new
chemicals introduced into the stream of American commerce end
up in our bloodstreams.”
PEER is submitting the new findings to the Minnesota Health Department
for an evaluation as to whether an immediate advisory about fish
caught near the 3M Cottage Grove facility is prudent.
Dr. Oliaei and some of MPCA scientist colleagues are scheduled
to testify before the Minnesota Senate Committee on Environment
& Natural Resources tomorrow afternoon, Tuesday, October 25,
2005, at 1:30 p.m.
###
Find
out more about MPCA’s attempts to restrict Dr. Oliaei’s
work and her speech