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Greenpeace discovers banned plant protection products in food fish
Farmed fish such as salmon and trout are heavily contaminated with a prohibited pesticide, according to a study by the environmental organization Greenpeace. The chemical ethoxyquin may cause a change in liver metabolism according to studies. In addition, it should be carcinogenic.
German love fish
Fish is popular with the Germans. According to the Fish Information Center (FIZ), in 2015 Germans consumed 1.15 million tonnes of it. Fish is considered very healthy. According to the German Society for Nutrition (DGE), regular fish consumption - especially of high-fat fish - can reduce the risk of fatal heart attacks, ischemic strokes and lipid metabolism disorders. However, fish is often contaminated with hazardous chemicals. This is also shown by a recent study by the environmental protection organization Greenpeace.
The environmental protection organization Greenpeace warns against pesticides in food fish. Breeding fish often contains the chemical ethoxyquin. This should be carcinogenic. (Image: berner51 / fotolia.com) Harmful substances
In fish food substances are found again and again, which can burden the health. For example, Stiftung Warentest's food inspectors found that mercury and mineral oils were tested in all the tuna varieties tested.
And while researching the NDR magazine "Market", the harmful substance ethoxyquin was detected in farmed salmon. According to studies, this could cause a change in liver metabolism. He should also be carcinogenic.
Now, a laboratory study of fish products from salmon, trout, sea bream and sea bass commissioned by the environmental organization Greenpeace has shown that farmed fish are heavily contaminated with the chemical ethoxyquin.
Allowed maximum quantity exceeded by a multiple
According to the experts, ethoxyquin is used to preserve animal feed such as fishmeal for transport. The EU Commission no longer authorized the active substance as a plant protection product in 2011 due to "a number of concerns".
According to Greenpeace, legal limits for various foods, such as meat, are 50 micrograms per kilogram (50 micrograms / kg). But more than 17 times more was found in the most heavily loaded sample.
Although the intake of ethoxyquin in this amount is not acutely hazardous to health according to toxicologists, long-term studies are lacking.
Fish from organic aquaculture less burdened
A total of 54 fish products were tested for ethoxyquin in the laboratory. All 38 fish samples from conventional aquaculture are contaminated with 32 samples well above the meat limit.
The highest ethoxyquine exposure, at 881 μg / kg, is a salmon product from a Norwegian aquaculture (Stremel Salmon from Real) - a more than 17-fold overrun of the meat limit.
According to Greenpeace fish samples from organic aquaculture are well below the meat limit - with one exception (organic salmon fillet, Edeka, 155 μg / kg).
Forbidden plant poison has lost nothing in fish
"Ethoxyquin is a banned pesticide and has not lost anything in fish," said Thilo Maack, fishery expert at Greenpeace in a press release. "It is negligent that this chemical ends up in the environment and on the plate of consumers."
Greenpeace calls for an EU-wide ban on ethoxyquin as a feed additive and a cessation of sales of fish products that are above the meat limit.
Change in liver metabolism
There is still a lack of comprehensive data on the effect of ethoxyquin on humans and the environment. "The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has yet to reach a final verdict on the toxicity of ethoxyquin," writes Greenpeace in a statement.
However, individual scientific papers and studies suggest that ethoxyquine can damage the genetic material, alter liver metabolism and be carcinogenic. In addition, animal tests revealed renal impairment, hypothyroidism, reproductive disorders and DNA damage.
As long as there is no ban on the substance of concern, Maack recommends consumers: "Rarely and consciously eat fish, look closely at fish purchases, avoid fish from conventional aquaculture, and choose wild fish that are not overfished." (Ad)