Feel like having seafood for dinner?

Feel like having seafood for dinner?

You might want to avoid the toxic fish.

Michigan health officials recently issued a warning about the consumption of fish caught in the Tittabawassee River (a tributary of the Saginaw River), which runs through a Dow Chemical plant in Midland, Michigan.

That’s right – it runs THROUGH the chemical plant.

That warning was expanded to include the Saginaw, as well as Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron, due to the discovery of what’s believed to be the highest levels of dioxin pollution ever recorded – about 20 times higher than any previous dioxin contamination in the EPA archives.

Dioxins are toxic, probably carcinogenic, and are created during the manufacture of chlorine-based products. Environmental efforts have curbed dioxin emissions in recent years, but they’re persistent chemicals – once created, they tend to linger.

So, should Michigan residents be worried? Naaa! Here’s what John C. Musser (a spokesman for Dow Chemical) told the Associated Press: “We don’t believe there’s any imminent or significant human health or environmental threat.”

“We don’t believe?” No way! He didn’t just say that.

Oh yes he did.

Source:
“Dioxin Spot in Mich. Could Be Worst Ever” Associated Press, 11/25/07, ap.org