"Study: FDA Seafood Standards Flawed"

"In wake of last year's BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a new study from an environmental watchdog group contends that current federal standards underestimate the risk to pregnant women and children of cancer-causing contaminants that can accumulate in seafood from such spills."



"The Natural Resources Defense Council study, published Wednesday in the online journal Environmental Health Perspectives, found that because of outdated assessment methods and assumptions, the Food and Drug Administration's standard for certain carbon compounds in seafood is off by 10,000 times.

The group is requesting that the FDA enact a rule that sets a limit on the amount of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons deemed safe for pregnant women and young children."

Jennifer Portman reports for the Tallahassee Democrat October 13, 2011.

SEE ALSO:

"New Study Says FDA Underestimated Seafood Contamination Risk After BP Oil Spill " (Huffington Post)

"FDA's Bad Science: Agency Allows Unsafe Levels of Contaminants in Seafood" (Switchboard/NRDC)

Commentary: "Seafood Contamination After the BP Gulf Oil Spill and Risks to Vulnerable Populations: A Critique of the FDA Risk Assessment" (Environmental Health Perspectives)

Correspondence: "FDA Risk Assessment of Seafood Contamination after the BP Oil Spill" (Environmental Health Perspectives)

"FDA Risk Assessment of Seafood Contamination after the BP Oil Spill: Rotkin-Ellman and Solomon Respond" (Environmental Health Perspectives)

"Study: Gulf Seafood Unsafe for Pregnant Women and Children?" (Healthland/TIME)

 

Source: USA TODAY, 10/14/2011