Researchers from Oregon State University College of Agricultural Sciences have reported finding extremely high levels of carcinogens in some areas of the Gulf of Mexico near where the Deepwater Horizon spill occurred. Specifically, they continue to find elevated concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs in the region. The researchers began testing for the contaminant May 9, and preliminary results, which have not yet been fully analyzed, suggest that the level of PAHs in the water off the coast of Louisiana experienced a 40-fold increase from May to June 2010.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is the name for a group of chemicals that number over 100 in total. As early as 1981, it has been known that PAHs can induce cancers including but not limited to carcinomas and sarcomas. The chemicals can also damage tissues and organs of the skin, stomach, liver, bladder and kidney.
Moreover, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, the chemicals have also been found to cause reproductive and developmental harm. For example, mice fed high levels of a PAH foods during pregnancy had problems reproducing and their offspring also had higher rates of birth defects and lower body weights. Exposure to PAHs over time has also been linked to cataracts, kidney and liver damage and jaundice in humans, and a reduction in the body’s ability to fight disease.
PAHs are released into the air when fossil fuels are burned. The main concern is that these chemicals can float on the surface of the water and have significant potential for contamination of seafood. Consequently, seafood of all types needs to be monitored and sampled for potential content of carcinogenic compounds. This even means that toxin-overloaded seafood from PAH-tainted fishing needs to be restricted from sale for human consumption. –torrance stephens, ph.d.
