Gather here, sushi and salmon lovers; a new discovery has revealed that eating your favorite specie of freshwater fish may have you battling cancer in no time! This claim isn't cooked up, and we're for real, but we'll tell you all about the Environmental Working Group researchers' findings.
Keep reading for the details.
Researchers from the Environmental Working Group (EWG) have revealed to the public that eating just one freshwater fish in 365 days (a year) is no different from drinking water laced with "forever chemicals" for a month.
The team found Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl, also known as PFAS, and widely used by people as cancer-carrying substances, amongst other serious health issues consuming it may cause.
The researchers from this group have gathered and analyzed about 500 samples of locally caught freshwater fishes and fish fillets from freshwaters across the United States.
The experts calculated that consuming the contaminated fish is equal to drinking water with a PFAS concentration of 48 parts per trillion for a month.
The median amount of all the PFAS in one freshwater fish was estimated to be around 9,500 nanograms per kilogram.
However, this isn't the case for fish caught in the Lakes of Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, as the amount of PFAS has increased to 11,800 nanograms per kilogram.
This figure is 280 times higher than the amount recorded for commercially caught and sold fish. The research revealed that one would have to buy and consume fish from a local supermarket for a year to get the equivalent level of PFAS people gather from eating just one freshwater fish.
A Senior EWG scientist and author, Dr. David Andrews, stated that people who consume freshwater fish, especially the faction who prefers to catch and eat them regularly, are at the highest risk of getting disturbing levels of PFAS in their systems.
As it stands, there're about 12,000 PFAS in circulation which are used by people in homes as firefighting foams, non-stick coating on cooking utensils, and textiles.
The chemicals were first developed by scientists in the 1940s; and since then, various groundbreaking tests and discoveries have traced the origin of numerous health problems to the consumption and use of synthetic chemicals.
However, despite the claims by scientists and many manufacturers stopping their use, they're still detected in human bodies and in large amounts too.
The reason for their strange longevity is that they contain an unbreakable bond formed by the carbon and fluorine atoms in them.
Dr. Tasha Stoiber who's also a senior scientist with EW and a co-author has described the need to identify sources of PFAS exposure as an urgent public health priority.
"The EPA needs to move swiftly to set regulations for the industries most likely to be dumping PFAS into the environment."
They're manufactured chemicals used as oil and water repellants and coating for common house products. They don't break down when released into the environment, which causes them to accumulate over time and contaminate drinking water supplies near facilities where they're used.
