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Newsletter—March 2007
- Advisory News
- Current Events, News and Journal Articles
- Meetings and Conferences
- For More Information
Note: The following summaries are based on articles from the press and from peer-reviewed publications, and they represent the opinions of the original authors. The views of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government.
Recent Advisory News
- Coast guard: Cocos Island fish have high PCB levels. GUAM - The U.S. Coast Guard is requesting a reduction of the Cocos Lagoon fish advisory area based on recent PCB testing results from the area which show no detection in the Lagoon. In addition, fish tissue data indicated that PCB concentrations were higher in the near shore area. An environmental protection specialist with the U.S. Coast Guard suggested that people should continue to avoid the area of concern.
- Source: Pacific Daily News - February 13, 2007
Current Events, News and Journal Articles
- Utah fish found to have higher levels of mercury. UTAH - Results from a two-year mercury study conducted by the Utah Division of Water Quality indicated that mercury concentrations were elevated at 14 additional sites. Approximately 11 percent of the samples exceeded the EPA guideline and the highest concentrations were found in splake trout in the north arm of Emery County's Joes Valley Reservoir and in Upper Enterprise Reservoir rainbow trout in Washington County. State officials are still evaluating whether the current fish advisories need to be revised.
- Source: Daily Herald - February 5, 2007
- Fish in mother's diet benefits child, study finds. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA - A recent British study showed that children of women who consume more fish during pregnancy have higher verbal ability and fewer behavioral problems. This raised questions regarding whether benefits associated with fish consumption outweigh the adverse effects associated with consumption of contaminated fish. EPA's Office of Water indicated that the current fish advisory will remain unchanged until further evaluation is conducted and study results could be replicated.
- Source: Washington Post - February 16, 2007
- Waiting for the DDT tide to turn: Federal study shows that fish caught off L.A. County still contain the world's highest levels of the pesticide 35 years after it was banned. CALIFORNIA - Data released from a recent federal survey shows that DDT concentration is still highly elevated in many fish from Los Angeles County. A health advisory was issued by state officials in 1991 but surveys have indicated that highly contaminated white croakers were still found in some Asian markets in Los Angeles and Orange counties in 2004 and 2005. Study results indicated that DDT levels may be decreasing but additional data is needed to confirm the trend.
- Source: KTLA 5 - January 28, 2007
- Residual levels of DDTs and PAHs in freshwater and marine fish from Hong Kong markets and their health risk assessment. Muscle tissue total DDT and PAH levels in freshwater and marine fish collected from Hong Kong markets were evaluated. Results indicated that PAH levels were relatively low and do not pose a concern for human health. DDT levels however were elevated when compared to the USEPA screening value. In brief, 45% and 70% of the freshwater and marine fish samples exceeded the screening value, respectively.
- Source: Cheung, K.C., Leung, H.M., Kong, K.Y., Wong, M.H. (2007). Environmental Research. Volume 66(3): 460-468.
- Metal levels in flathead sole (Hippoglossoides elassodon) and great sculpin (Myoxocephalus polyacanthocephalus) from Adak Island, Alaska: potential risk to predators and fishermen. This paper summarizes heavy metal concentrations observed in sculpin and sole collected from Adak Island in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. The authors concluded that arsenic, lead, and mercury levels from these samples may pose a health risk to human consumers.
- Source: Burger, J., Gochfelf, M., Jeitner, C., Burke, S., Stamm, T. (2007). Chemosphere. Volume 103(1): 62-69.
- Fetal methylmercury exposure as measured by cord blood mercury concentrations in a mother-infant cohort in Hong Kong. Mercury levels in maternal blood, cord blood, and hair samples from newborn infants in Hong Kong and correlation with fish consumption and maternal age were evaluated in this study. Maternal fish consumption and maternal age were found to be positively correlated with cord blood mercury levels. Approximately 78% of the cord blood samples were above 29 nmol/L. Marine fish consumption was found to have a stronger positive correlation with mercury concentration than freshwater fish consumption.
- Source: Fok, T.K., Lam, H.S., Ng, P.C., Yip, S.K., Sin, N.C., Chan, H.S., Gu, J.S., So, H.K., Wong, M.C., Lam, W.K. (2007). Environment International. Volume 33(1): 84-92.
- Polychlorinated biphenyls and their hydroxylated metabolites (OH-PCBs) in pregnant women from eastern Slovakia. PCBs and specific polychlorobiphenylol (OH-PCB) metabolites in maternal sera from women delivering in eastern Slovakia were evaluated. Results indicated that body burdens of PCBs and OH-PCB metabolites may result in potential adverse health effects to mothers residing in eastern Slovakia.
- Source: Park, J.S., Linderholm, L., Charles, M.J., Athanasiadou, M., Petrik, J., Kocan, A., Drobna, B., Trnovec, T., Bergman, A., Hertz-Picciotto, I. (2007). Environmental Health Perspectives. Volume 115(1): 20-27.
- Michigan Environmental Health Association's (MEHA) 63rd Annual Educational Conference. March 27-30, 2007, Kalamazoo, MI. For more information, visit MEHA http://www.meha.net/banner.htm
. - American Water Resources Association (AWRA) 2007 Summer Specialty Conference, Emerging Contaminants of Concern in the Environment: Issues, Investigations. June 25-27, 2007, Vail, CO. For more information, visit AWRA http://awra.org/meetings/Vail2007/index.html .
- National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) 71th Annual Educational Conference & Exhibition. June 25-28, 2007, Atlantic City, NJ. For more information, visit NEHA http://www.neha.org .
- American Fisheries Society (AFS) 136th Annual Meeting. September 2-6, 2007, San Francisco, CA. For more information, visit AFS http://www.fisheries.org/sf/ .
- 121st AOAC Annual Meeting and Exposition. September 16-20, 2007, Anaheim, CA. For more information, visit AOAC http://www.aoac.org/meetings1/121st_annual_mtg/registration.htm.htm .
- American Public Health Association (APHA) 135th Annual Meeting and Exposition. November 3-7, 2007, Washington, DC. For more information, visit APHA http://www.apha.org/meetings/ .
- Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) North America 28th Annual Meeting. November 11-15, 2007, Milwaukee, WI. For more information, visit SETAC http://milwaukee.setac.org/home.asp .
- Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) 2007 Annual Meeting. December 9-12, 2007, San Antonio, TX. For more information, visit SRA http://www.sra.org/events_2007_meeting.php .
For More Information
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