Gulf seafood could hurt people years from now. A new report from the environmental group the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) alleges that because of the oil spill, eating seafood from the Gulf can increase the risk of cancer for children and the unborn babies of pregnant women.
“What the chemicals in oil do is they damage chromosomes, interact with DNA, cause cell mutations (and) can increase the risk or cause various cancers,” said Dr. Gina Solomon, Senior Scientist with the NRDC. She added, “the specific issues seen in the babies exposed to these kinds of oil contaminants are DNA damage, low birth weight and growth defects, in utero.”
The Food and Drug Administration vehemently denies the findings of the NRDC report. “The seafood from theGulf of Mexico is safe to consume for all consumers including pregnant women and children,” says Robert Dickey, Director of the FDA’s Gulf Coast Seafood Laboratory.
Dickey maintains that the NRDC’s conclusions were based on faulty calculations, adding, “the amount of seafood that somebody would have to eat would be the equivalent to sixty-three pounds of shrimp, or five pounds of oyster, or nine pounds of fin fish every day for five years before they would exceed levels to be concerned of. That’s how low the residues are in the seafood.”
The Food and Drug Administration vehemently denies the findings of the NRDC report. “The seafood from theGulf of Mexico is safe to consume for all consumers including pregnant women and children,” says Robert Dickey, Director of the FDA’s Gulf Coast Seafood Laboratory.
Dickey maintains that the NRDC’s conclusions were based on faulty calculations, adding, “the amount of seafood that somebody would have to eat would be the equivalent to sixty-three pounds of shrimp, or five pounds of oyster, or nine pounds of fin fish every day for five years before they would exceed levels to be concerned of. That’s how low the residues are in the seafood.”
