Wild eels burdened with dioxin and PCB

NRW health authorities warn against the consumption of self-caught eels from lakes in North Rhine-Westphalia. These could contain dioxins and cause lasting damage to your health.

07/17/2012

The State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection warns consumers against the consumption of self-caught wild eels. During investigations in the laboratory the pollutants dioxin and PCB were detected in high concentrations. Experts have taken samples of a total of 127 wild eels from eleven different North Rhine-Westphalian lakes. Almost all eels were found to be exposed to very high levels of dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The waters were: Sieg, Erft, Wupper, Rur, Niers, Schwalm, Lippe, Ruhr, Rhine, Berkel and Urft-Dalsperre. Eels purchased at fish markets or supermarkets are exempt from this warning. Here no increased pollutant loads were determined.

Dioxins were and are not specifically produced, but are produced as by-products, especially in combustion processes. On the other hand, PCBs have been targeted, e.g. in transformers or as plasticizers in paints. Although the application is now banned in almost all states, both dioxins and PCBs are still present in the environment because of their low levels of degradation and will be so in the long run. Thus, they can also be found in waters and in the rivers. Other wild fish could be affected by pollution.

"Although the pollutant is no longer used, it is present everywhere in the environment, because it is practically not degraded. That's why we also find PCBs in our food. " Heinrich Bottermann from the NRW Consumer Protection Ministry.

Dioxins and PCBs are long-lasting compounds that are deposited in the fatty tissue and degrade only very slowly. They accumulate in the environment mainly in high-fat foods, such as in the particularly high-fat eel. Consuming the fish continues the chronic burden on humans. Long-term consequences include disorders of the immune and nervous system.

Anglers and family members are recommended by the Ministry to refrain from consuming the self-fishing wild eels from North Rhine-Westphalian waters. (Sb)

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