Summary
European researchers have found cod liver oil supplements to be
contaminated with flame retardant chemicals, according to a new report
published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. These flame
retardant chemicals -- PCBs and PBDEs -- were present in higher levels
than eight years ago, indicating a worrisome rise in the contamination
of the marine aquaculture with industrial chemicals.
So what's the
real story on this? The contamination of cod liver oil and fish oil
supplements with toxic chemicals is a legitimate threat, and it's not
just flame retardants that consumers should be worried about either:
mercury and other heavy metals have been found in alarming levels in
farm-raised salmon, too. Of course, fish oil pills are popular dietary
supplements these days, thanks to the widespread knowledge of the health
benefits of consuming omega 3 fatty acids -- healthy oils that are very
high in fish oil products.
What's a consumer to do? If taking fish
oil supplements is good for cardiovascular health thanks to the healthy
oils, but if those supplements are contaminated with heavy metals and
flame retardants, then is the supplement doing more harm than good?
My take on this is simple: there are many sources of healthy oils,
including flax oil, chia seeds, olive oil and of course extra virgin
unrefined coconut oil. I am currently advising close friends to avoid
high doses of fish oil supplements due to the risk of toxicity. Instead,
they should be getting their healthy oils from plant sources. Nuts,
seeds and grain germ products (like wheat germ) are also good sources of
healthy oils.
The fact that we have to be careful of cod liver oil
and other fish oil supplements is sad, indeed. It's an indication of
just how large the global pollution problem really is. When our oceans
are contaminated with heavy metals, and new moms are producing human
breast milk with detectable levels of flame retardants, you know
something's wrong. And what's wrong is that as a global community, we
produce and distribute toxic chemicals in alarming quantities. These
toxic chemicals are not just used in industrial processes, either: they
end up in your home, on your body and in your food.
For example,
flame retardants are commonly sprayed on mattresses, creating a highly
toxic offgassing effect that greatly impacts indoor air quality in
homes. Personal care products are typically loaded with toxic chemicals,
too: deodorants contain aluminum, toothpaste is made with fluorosilicic
acid and formaldehyde, and antibacterial soaps are laced with potent
nerve agent chemicals used to kill bacteria. Perfumes contain chemicals
known to damage the liver, laundry detergent is made with artificial
chemical fragrances, and most household cleaning products contain liver
damaging chemical solvents.
When it comes to food, the picture is no
better: practically all packaged meat products are purposely
contaminated with cancer-causing sodium nitrite as a preservative. Diet
soft drinks contain aspartame, which breaks down into formaldehyde in
the body -- a potent nerve toxin. Most canned soups, salad dressings and
frozen foods contain high levels of an excitotoxin well documented to
damage the endocrine system, leading to obesity disorders, headaches and
potentially long-term nerve damage. The list of metabolic disruptors
found in food and drinks goes on and on.
Sadly, humanity has created
a highly toxic environment in which to live. Every refrigerator, every
home, and every city is loaded with toxic chemicals, and every human
being on the planet is in one way or another exposed to them. The fact
that flame retardants have been found in cod liver oil is just one
warning sign of a gigantic problem: the poisoning of planet Earth by
human beings.
Original source:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/03/040317073605.htm
Details
Now this growing list can be expanded to include dietary supplements
based on cod liver oil, according to a new study.
For example, researchers have found that farm-raised salmon contain
more contaminants than wild salmon, which they attribute partly to the
fish oils used to supplement salmon feed.
"We analyzed 21 commercially available fish and vegetable oil dietary
supplements for selected contaminants," says Miriam Jacobs, Ph.D., who
lectures in food safety and toxicology at the University of Surrey in
Guildford, U.K, and was one of the authors of the latest study involving
cod liver oil.
Jacobs and her coworkers measured levels of persistent organic
pollutants in the supplements, including pesticides, polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), which are
used widely as flame retardants.
About the author: Mike Adams is a consumer health advocate and award-winning journalist with a mission to teach personal and planetary health to the public He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, and he has published numerous courses on preparedness and survival, including financial preparedness, emergency food supplies, urban survival and tactical self-defense. Adams is an honest, independent journalist and accepts no money or commissions on the third-party products he writes about or the companies he promotes. In mid 2010, Adams produced TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural health video sharing website offering user-generated videos on nutrition, green living, fitness and more. He's also the founder of a well known HTML email software company whose 'Email Marketing Director' software currently runs the NaturalNews subscription database. Adams volunteers his time to serve as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and practices nature photography, Capoeira, martial arts and organic gardening.
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Tuesday, May 04, 2004
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