Dolphins and /Whales Contain Mercury Levels Higher Than Considered Safe by the Japanese Health Ministry Earth

Islands Save Japan Dolphins Campaign and several other environmental organizations have asked Japanese laboratories to test dolphin and whale meat for mercury and other contaminants. In tests conducted by the Elsa Nature Conservancy of Japan, in 2006-07, levels of mercury in dolphin meat was 4 to 13.5 times higher than the maximum level set by the Japanese Health Ministry. Mercury in pilot whale and Rissos dolphin meat were even higher, ranging from 9.6 to 30 times higher than health maximums. The samples of dolphin/small whale meat were purchased randomly in markets in Japan. Other organizations have also had dolphin and small whale meat tested by scientific labs in Japan with similar results. Studies of people in Japan who eat dolphin meat on a regular basis, such as in Taiji, show dangerously high levels of mercury, putting the town's overall mortality rate more than 50 percent above other villages nationwide of roughly the same population.

Poisons Found In Whale and Dolphin Meat

DANGER: Dolphin Meat Is Poisoned By Mercury

Due to their exclusive seafood diet, dolphins and whales accumulate high levels of chemicals in their tissue. When humans consume their meat, gradual poisoning can occur.

mercury methyl mercury cadmium DDT PCBs We know, from Japanese scientists, that dolphins and small whales are heavily contaminated by mercury. No one should be eating meat from dolphins and small whales. Yet the Japanese government ignores this problem and allows mercury-poisoned dolphin and whale meat to be sold in markets. Japanese consumers are exposed to danger but not warned. In the sense that there is the potential hazard to human health, including toxicity and infectiousness, or damage to living environments, it would perhaps not be an overstatement to say that these dolphins are contaminated living creatures equivalent to industrial waste. ~ Ric OBarry

Sources:

http://savejapandolphins.org http://en.elsaenc.net/ http://www.bluevoice.org/ http://www.eia-international.org/ www.seashepherd.org/

MERCURY KILLS!

Dolphins and Whales Concentrate Pollutants in Their Meat Mercury enters the ocean from a variety of sources, especially from the atmosphere, as coal-fired power plants emit tons of mercury into the air. As organisms absorb mercury in the ocean, it gets more and more concentrated the higher up the food chain one examines. Japanese scientists have conducted extensive scientific studies of mercury contamination of dolphin and small whale meat and have found time and time again: Mercury levels can be 20 to 5,000 times higher in dolphin and small whale meat than levels recommended by the UN World Health Organization and the Japanese Ministry of Health. These levels raise grave issues of poisoning Japanese citizens who consume dolphin and whale meat with mercury. In addition to mercury, other dangerous pollutants like PCBs and cadmium can be found in dolphin and small whale meat bought for food in Japanese markets.

The Japanese Government is Poisoning Its Own Citizens Dolphin meat is sold in stores throughout Japan. Some of it is labeled correctly as dolphin meat, and some is mislabeled as whale meat. What are never included on the label are the levels of mercury, methyl mercury, cadmium, DDT and PCBs. One or more of these contaminants pollute almost all of the dolphin meat for sale in Japan. That it is sold for public consumption at all is a disgrace; that it is sold without the Japanese government warning its citizens that eating dolphin meat is hazardous to their health is irresponsible and negligent. Studies clearly show that dolphin meat is not safe, and that the mercury contamination is particularly dangerous to fetuses and breast-fed children if the meat is eaten by their mothers. Yet the Japanese government allows this contaminated food to be sold without warning, even to pregnant women.

Dolphin Meat Obtained In Japan Drive Fisheries: Toxic to Humans The brutal annual slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan is not only an act of extreme cruelty to highly sentient animals. It is deceptive and harmful to the consumer of the meat derived from these kills.

Dolphin and whale meat can be easily found in Japanese food markets: "This is marinated whale meat."

Mercury levels in dolphin meat sold in Japan are far higher than would occur in nature and certainly higher than is allowed by any developed nation. There are also high levels of cadmium and PCBs as well as chemicals of the dioxin group. In some cases the levels of mercury are 1,600 times the allowed quantities in meat for human consumption. The consumption of mercury in the quantities that exist in whale and dolphin meat can impair immune response and cause neurological damage and can produce mental retardation, especially in the young.