HOKKAIDO, Japan (1 July 2002) -- Scientists at the University of Hokkaido have called for the Japanese government to restrict consumption of whale meat after tests revealed astonishingly high levels of mercury contamination. Some of the samples studied contained over 5,000 times the limit for mercury contamination set by the Japanese government. Tetsuya Endo, Koichi Haraguchi and Masakatsu Sakata at the University of Hokkaido, who carried out the research on whale meat sold in shops and supermarkets warned the public that even a single ingestion of contaminated whale meat could be acutely toxic. Minamata researchers shocked Even experienced researchers from the Minamata saga were shocked by the new findings. Hirokatsu Akagi, a director of the National Institute for Minamata Research said he had never seen mercury levels above 20 micrograms per gram. The Hokkaido research group found two samples with 1970 micrograms per gram and the average was 370 micrograms per gram, over 900 times the government limit. None of the samples studied was below the safe limit. | | Despite ample evidence that whale meat is toxic, the Japanese government continues to ignore public health and panders to ultranationalists, organized crime bosses and fishing coops. The samples came from dolphins and small-toothed whales which are not controlled by the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Despite the latest findings and previous research which has shown that whale and dolphin meat is contaminated with heavy metals, the Japanese government, on behalf of a small but powerful fishing industry, continues to campaign for the resumption of commercial whaling. © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORKSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
