(JP) Scientists consider human cost of whaling

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http://www.asahi.com/english/national/K2002052301007.html

 

Scientists consider human cost of whaling

 

By JUN SAITO, The Asahi Shimbun

 

SHIMONOSEKI-While pro- and anti-whaling nations square

off at the International Whaling Commission (IWC)

conference, scientists and citizens' groups have a

more immediate question: Are whales safe to eat?

 

``Whales carry far higher levels of pollutants than

other marine life. I have to point out that whale meat

could be harmful to human health,'' said Koichi

Haraguchi, a chemistry professor at Daiichi College of

Pharmaceutical Sciences in Fukuoka.

 

Although the IWC conference is scheduled to address

the issue, pro-whaling nations are not keen to talk

about toxic pollutants contaminating whale meat.

 

``I don't deny the culture and the history of whaling

in local communities. But those are logical only if

whale is safe as food,'' said Takehiro Masuyama of

Safety First, a Japanese nongovernmental organization

concerned about food contamination. The group is

urging the government to take steps to protect

consumers from toxic substances.

 

Haraguchi and his colleagues in 1999 tested whale

products sold across Japan, including sashimi, canned

and cooked meat, whale bacon and blubber strips. They

found not only high levels of mercury-particularly in

whale blubber, which can accumulate fat-soluble

toxins-but PCBs and DDT and other pesticides.

 

A researcher at the Health Science University of

Hokkaido studying the effect of pollution in Japanese

coastal waters found 2,000 micrograms of mercury per

gram in samples of dolphin meat sold in Wakayama. That

figure was about 5,000 times higher than the 0.4

micrograms of mercury per gram considered the safe

maximum by the government.

 

Some minke whales caught in the North Pacific also had

higher levels of PCBs and mercury in their bodies than

the government-designated maximum limit for safe human

consumption, according to the Institute of Cetacean

Research, a Tokyo-based nonprofit group.

 

The level of contamination was so high in sperm whales

last season that the government did not even put their

meat on the market.

 

Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare officials said

it is up to local governments to ensure marine produce

sold on the market is safe for human

consumption.(IHT/Asahi: May 23,2002)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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