Document BN8nn3np5qemBp2DMDj5RMKj

The Flint Journal FLINT, MICH. D. 110,130 SUN, 110.075 FEB 261076 ~A Fish expert concerned over PCBs Will a fisherman who started catching salmon in 1966 and has been eating them ever since curl up his toes in 1980 or 1985 because of polychlorin ated biphenyls (PCBs) contamination? "1 don't know,"1 said Dr. Harold Humphrey, of the Michigan Public Health Department's division of envir onmental epidemiology. "That will require additional study and time. No one now has alarming levels In their bodies. *Tm not alarmed. But since the material Is there, people are exposed to it. We need to study the matter. We can't reach a conclusion now. There is not enough data." The first research project he men tioned cost about $35,000. More re search will take much more money. "Hard, long-term answers are not available," Humphrey said. "We don't know if the human body can get rid of PCBs. However, in Japan, body levels did decline. There is no question that PCBs can do terrible things to animals and peo ple. in Japan, more than 1,000 people ale large doses of PCBs which had gotten into cooking oil. They suffered visual difficulties, stomach disorders, skin irritations and othei problems. The problems appear to be long-lasting. "We have no data on how PCBs af fect human reproduction. This might be something that a follow-up study might do." . However, in animals, PCBs have shown drastic effects on reproduction. Mink and rhesus monkeys fed diets containing PCBs had a lower fertility rate, more miscarriages, and the young wera born smaller. John Hesse is an aquatic biologist for the Department of Natural Re sources (DNR) in charge of toxic ma terials. He's concerned. "PCBs accumulate slowly in the fats. The first thing they do is hurt reproduction." Pike, for instance, are not fatty, compared with lake trout, salmon and brown trout. Pike are netted by the DNR in early spring in marshes along Lake Michigan, including Muskegon.' The eggs and milt are taken to hatcheries. . "We found a very severe mortality : in the butcheries," Hesse said. "They : seemed to hatch all right, but died off. 1 Samples from all but one area had a 40 ! per cent to 100 per cent mortality in | seven days." I A testing program was started. , Adult fish were taken and tested for PCBs. They showed .10 parts per mil lion to I ppm the edible meat. The eggs tested from 2.2 ppm to 4.3 ppm. "That's high enough to have caused it." Hesse said. .In fact, the biologists were almost ready to say that PCBs were the cause. Then they found that pike eggs taken from Gaiien, In ex treme southwestern Michigan, had the normal 90 per cent survival rate. The fish and their eggs tested about the same as (he others. "There's no correlation." Hesse said. "I don't know if it's PCBs or not." - SAWYER MONS 033124