Dutch eels full of dioxin

Thios video from the USA says about itself:

High-speed video of suction feeding by Anguilla sp.

Film by Rita Mehta. All live animal protocols were approved by the University of California’s Animal Care and Use Committee.

Translated from Dutch news agency ANP:

Eels from big rivers full of dioxin

Published: September 24, 2010 4:31 p.m.

HILVERSUM – Eels from the major rivers and the Biesbosch contain too much dioxin. This means that the fish do not meet current European standards about dioxin.

This will be reported by the television program Zembla on Netherlands 2 station on Saturday night.

Dioxin is a chemical waste which enters the human body through food. An excess of the substance can cause cancer. Dioxin is also very noxious for the unborn child.

Fishing ban

Already in 2007, the Food Safety Authority warned about the high level of dioxin in Dutch eels. They were insisting on a fishing ban then, but that did not happen. According to scientists interviewed by Zembla, the government considers that economic interests of the fishing industry are more important than food safety.

Update 7 October 2010: here.

Tiny, slimy – and pricey. This is the glass eel, the baby of the critically endangered European eel. As market prices hit a record $2800 per kilogramme, France has blocked an agreement to stop European exports, crippling efforts to restock Europe’s increasingly eel-less rivers: here.

Primitive Duplicate Hox Clusters in the European Eel’s Genome: here.

Wild salmon in the Ourthe river in Belgium: here. And here.

USA: Ban on Genetically Modified Salmon Proposed in Senate Despite Powerful Biotech Lobby: here.

A new report published in the Environmental Sciences Europe journal has revealed a connection between genetically modified foods and a significant risk of developing organ disruptions, particularly in the liver and kidneys: here.

Mike Ludwig, Truthout: “The Obama administration is supporting genetically engineered (GE) agriculture in more than 50 national wildlife refuges across the country and watchdog groups say internal emails among top administration officials reveal that the GE plots are a priority in the White House. Earlier this year, a settlement in a lawsuit filed by the watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and its allies halted the planting of GE crops in US Fish and Wildlife Service wildlife refuges in northeastern states. Now PEER claims the Obama administration is working with the biotech lobby to shield GE plots in refuges from future legal challenges”: here.

It is estimated that 48 million people are infected by foodborne diseases in the United States each year, resulting in $152 billion in medical costs annually: here.

New WikiLeaks Cables Show US Diplomats Promote Genetically Engineered Crops Worldwide. Mike Ludwig, Truthout: “Dozens of United States diplomatic cables released in the latest WikiLeaks dump on Wednesday reveal new details of the US effort to push foreign governments to approve genetically engineered (GE) crops and promote the worldwide interests of agribusiness giants like Monsanto and DuPont. The cables further confirm previous Truthout reports on the diplomatic pressure the US has put on Spain and France, two countries with powerful anti-GE crop movements, to speed up their biotech approval process and quell anti-GE sentiment within the European Union (EU)”: here.

India Becomes First Country to Accuse Multinational Company (Monsanto) of “Bio-Piracy”: here.

Dow and Monsanto Join Forces to Poison America’s Heartland. Richard Schiffman, Truthout: “In a match that some would say was made in hell, the nation’s two leading producers of agrochemicals have joined forces in a partnership to reintroduce the use of the herbicide 2,4-D, one half of the infamous defoliant Agent Orange, which was used by American forces to clear jungle during the Vietnam War. These two biotech giants have developed a weed management program that, if successful, would go a long way toward a predicted doubling of harmful herbicide use in America’s corn belt during the next decade”: here.

Anthony Gucciardi, Natural Society: “In a major victory for public health and what will hopefully lead to other nations taking action, a French court decided today that GMO crops monster Monsanto is guilty of chemically poisoning a French farmer”: here.

High-tech camera monitors eels as they set off on 3,000 mile journey: here.

This is a video about eels after rain in New Zealand.

American eel now an endangered species: here.

Related articles

• ‘Genetic’ salmon war shifts to grocers (triblive.com)
• European/Freshwater Eels (charlottesamsphotography.wordpress.com)
• Horrifying Things About Monsanto (saveamericafoundation.com)
• The Pituitary Gland of the European Eel Reveals Massive Expression of Genes Involved in the Melanocortin System (plosone.org)
• Mexico Bans GE Corn (cryptogon.com)
• CFIA news about food and toxins that isn’t very widely reported (blogs.vancouversun.com)
• Recovery of the European eel stock (libraryeuroparl.wordpress.com)
• Why are there pesticides and GMOs in our national wildlife refuges? (grist.org)
• Welsh journalist campaigns for ‘truth’ over Japan’s Vietnam Agent Orange stocks (walesonline.co.uk)