Photo from Stephen Cummings on Flickr through Creative Commons

There is now a connection between human health and the untold amounts of plastic trash in our waters.  Since toxins from plastic debris leak into the environment as the material degrades, scientists are worried the poisons are creeping back up the food chain to humans who consume seafood.

Now, a lawsuit filed in California this Tuesday validates these worrisome concerns.

Mateel Environmental Justice Foundation claims companies that supply fish oil supplements have broken state law by not labeling PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) levels on their products.

California is the only state that requires labeling to warn consumers a product may contain trace amounts of polychlorinated biphenyl compounds…

Although the production of PCB, a stabilizing additive used in plastics, has been banned in America since 1979, the toxins are still abundant in our environment; especially in areas of the ocean that are great garbage patches of human waste and plastic litter. The EPA has confirmed PCBs are a carcinogen. The Agency also warns exposure to the compounds have serious effects on the immune, reproductive, nervous, and endocrine systems. 

Mateel conducted tests on 10 fish oils and found traces of PCBs in every sample. 

The amounts ranged from 12 nanograms a day to more than 852 nanograms a day, based on the daily recommended dose written on the labels.

For reference, in salmon with levels of 24 to 45 nanograms, the EPA recommends no more than one meal per month.

The fish oils were from salmon, cod, and shark. Since there are more than 100 different brands of fish oils, more tests are being conducted. Farmed salmon are particularly at risk for PCB contamination, but the lawsuit doesn’t specify if any of the contaminated oils came from farmed salmon.

David Rose, a lawyer and plaintiff in the suit, is an advocate for tougher regulations on PCB labeling in the United States:

“The people buying these fish oil products are not being told that the PCBs are there… People buy fish oil products to improve their health, not to put it at risk, so it’s particularly important that they know about this.”

In an interview for CBC News, spokesman Peter Kelley was also blunt in warning consumers - especially pregnant women - of PCB levels in fish oil supplements:

“Ironically, fish oil products are often touted for their Omega-3 health benefits, and our message today to consumers of fish oil is ‘Buyer beware’… [PCBs] are so toxic they’re tested to the billionth of a gram. There is no known safe level of these things. Because these supplements are recommended for pregnant women, it’s particularly important.”

The six international companies named in the lawsuit are familiar to the average American and other customers around the globe:

• CVS Pharmacy, Inc.
• General Nutrition Corp.
• Now Health Group, Inc.
• Omega Protein Inc.
• Pharmavite LLC (Nature Made brand)
• Rite Aid Corp.
• Solgar Inc.
• and TwinLab Corp.

Though fish oil suppliers have processes to remove PCBs in their products, the plaintiffs in the suit say these methods are not completely effective. Since there is no uniform labeling system in the USA, the consumer will continue to be kept in the dark as to which fish oils have the lowest levels of PCBs.

“It isn’t good for the good guys in the industry because there’s no incentive for the ones who are cleaner to put the levels on their product… It’s part of the reason there [has] been such confusion,” says Chris Manthey, a California environmentalist and a second plaintiff in the lawsuit.

(Click here for the original article)