Originally published February 1 2006
Health risks of eating salmon vary across region and species
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Steven Schwager, Cornell associate professor, discusses the health risks of various types of salmon, including sockeye, Atlantic and Pacific salmon.
A new study shows that the benefits of eating wild Pacific salmon outweigh those of eating farmed Atlantic salmon, when the risks of chemical contaminants are considered, although there are important regional differences.
Steven Schwager, Cornell associate professor says, "None of us [study authors] argues that the benefits of salmon are not real.
But the dirty little secret is that there are risks."
He continues, "For a guy who has had a coronary and doesn't want to have another one, the risks from pollutants are minor ones, and the omega-3 benefits him in a way that far outstrips the relatively minor risks of the pollutants."
However, for people who are young, the study identifies they're at risk of lifetime accumulation of pollutants that are carcinogenic -- or pregnant women -- with the risks of birth defects and IQ diminution and other kinds of damage to the fetus.
The researchers' benefit-risk analysis showed that consumers should not eat farmed fish from Scotland, Norway and eastern Canada more than three times a year; farmed fish from Maine, western Canada and Washington state no more than three to six times a year; and farmed fish from Chile no more than about six times a year.
Other types of salmon studied provided the following results: wild chum salmon can be consumed safely as often as once a week, pink salmon, Sockeye and Coho about twice a month and Chinook just under once a month.
Barbara Knuth Cornell, professor of natural resources who specializes in risk management associated with chemical contaminants in fish, says, "Our results also support the need for policy and regulatory efforts to limit pollution of our waters and clean up pollution that has occurred, and thus ultimately reduce the risk side of this equation by reducing the potential for human exposure to these contaminants."
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