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FDA Not Testing Gulf Seafood for Mercury, Arsenic or Other Heavy Metals Because "We Do Not Expect to See an Increase Based on this Spill"
Congressman Markey's subcomittee held a hearing Thursday on seafood and the oil spill.
Markey got the Food and Drug Administration to admit that fish are not being tested from oiled areas:
The FDA also admitted that it is not testing for mercury, arsenic or other toxic heavy metals, because - wait for it - the FDA doesn't expect to see an increase of these toxins from the oil spill:
But in the real world:
Crude oil contains such powerful cancer-causing chemicals as benzene, toluene, heavy metals and arsenic.
***
As Bloomberg notes:
“Oil
is a complex mixture containing substances like benzene, heavy metals,
arsenic, and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons -- all known to cause
human health problems such as cancer, birth defects or miscarriages,”
said Kenneth Olden, founding dean of New York’s CUNY School of Public
Health at Hunter College, who is monitoring a panel on possible delayed
effects.***
Benzene, toluene, arsenic, heavy metals and many other components of crude oil ... bioaccumulate.
The FDA's statement is similar to NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco's recent assertion that oil doesn't bioaccumulate in fish, and that fish naturally "degrade and process" the oil.
As a former long-time NOAA scientist points out, NOAA hasn't exactly been neutral and objective with regards to Gulf oil spill science:
Ian R. MacDonald, an oceanographer at Florida State University ... sees this latest incident as part of an ongoing problem.
Lubchenco had previously been a key figure in the patently low-ball estimates for the oil flow, and fervently resisted acknowledging the existence of underwater oil plumes, he said.
"I've
worked with NOAA essentially all my career and I have many good friends
there, and people I respect in the agency, scientists who are really
solid," MacDonald said.
"Throughout this process, it's been
troubling to me to see the efforts of people like that passed through a
filter where the objective seems to be much more political and public
relations than making comments to inform the public.
"The
consistent theme," MacDonald said, "seems to be to minimize the impact
of the oil -- and to act as a bottleneck for information."
Unfortunately, this is how government today operates ... its main activity is simply to try to cover up crises.
The FDA also admitted that it is not testing for the most toxic bioaccumulating metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
Hat tip Florida Oil Spill Law.
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One would think so. On the other hand, one would also think these officials would like to avoid perjury and other nasty charges for lying under oath to Congress. So the best way to avoid lying is to tell the truth.
Since you don't wish to lie about finding dangerous toxins in the seafood and you're under national security orders to conduct a cover up, the only way to avoid that tight space between the rock and the hard place is not to look for what you don't wish to lie about.
See, it's so easy to understand what's going on when you think like the sociopaths running the show.
And think of the tax payer dollars you save not running those tests! Win/win I tell you.
For decades, the messianic cry from each and every politician within reach of a baby to kiss was "Do it for the children".
That's so yesterday.
Now the rallying cry from every FRN-ink-stained politician (from kissing and sucking the FED and bankers) is "Do it for the tax payers dollars".
Sadly, we never knew how much better off we were when they were kissing babies.
mm, why not just put out a can of tuna for a feral cat
When you finally take your head out of your ass, don't look directly into any light. It will hurt you.. We don't want you seeing spots and grabbing the wrong medication.. again..
An in your face troll...much more insidious are the ones that sound reasonable...until you realize they are feeding you poison too.
And to think, they might have amounted to something.Such a waste.
pattern of coverup though it seems some are doing the right thing (or they want to avoid jail for lying to Congress)
Bill Lehr, a senior scientist at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) departed from an official report from two weeks ago which suggested the majority of the oil had been captured or broken down.
"I would say most of that is still in the environment," Lehr, the lead author of the report, told the house energy and commerce committee.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/19/bp-oil-spill-scientist...