State standards for measuring the safety of seafood after oil spills were lowered by FDA for the Gulf of Mexico, the Press-Register in Mobile, AL reports.
The FDA measure in question for cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) allows 132 parts per billion (PPB) in shrimp and crab, and 143 PPB for oysters harvested from the Gulf in the aftermath of the April 20 explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil platform.
After the tanker New Carissa ran aground on the Oregon coast and after an oil spill in California, the state benzo(a)pyrene equivalent limits were 45 PPM and 34 PPM, respectively, for shellfish.
FDA defends setting a standard about three times higher for Gulf coast shellfish than the standards used after those West coast spills. It says during the time between those spills and the BP oil spill, EPA came out with updated cancer-risk data for PAH.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Press–Register (Mobile, AL).
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