25/01/2005 – Fish from
some areas of the Baltic Sea are so contaminated
that they may be too toxic for EU markets,
warns WWF.
According to a new report, Clean Baltic
within REACH?, every year from the late
1980s to early 11000s, 31kg of polychlorobiphenyls
(PCBs) accumulated in the fish caught from
the Baltic Sea, and almost certainly ended
up on people's plates.
Some of the fatty fish found in the Baltic
do not comply with EU requirements for dioxins,
and in 1995 the Swedish authorities recommended
that women of childbearing age limit their
consumption of Baltic herring and salmon
because of the contamination with toxic
substances such as furans, dioxins, and
PCBs.
The report also reveals that several fish
species, such as Atlantic salmon, sea trout,
cod and turbot, have shown signs of reproductive
problems in recent decades.
The level of brominated flame retardants
(PBDEs) found in herring is 5 times higher
in the Baltic Sea than in the Atlantic.
But it is not only the fish that is contaminated.
The levels of polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs,
banned since 2000) and PBDEs in top predators
such as seals, guillemots, and white-tailed
sea eagles are two to five times higher
in the Baltic Sea than in the North Sea
and Arctic Ocean.
Other harmful chemicals, such as perfluorinated
compounds, have been found lately in harbour
porpoises, as well as in various fish and
bird species.
"Baltic species are thoroughly contaminated
with chemicals," said Dr Ninja Reineke,
Senior Policy Officer with the WWF DetoX
Campaign. "This is not just a burden
of the past but a major ongoing problem."
The Baltic Sea is an ecosystem highly sensitive
to pollution, as there is little exchange
of water with the neighbouring Atlantic
Ocean.
As a result, the sea's contaminated water
can remain in place for 25 to 30 years.
And, to make the situation even worse, low
water temperatures and ice cover mean that
the chemicals biodegrade extremely slowly.
WWF stresses that the current EU chemical
legislation has failed to protect the Baltic
ecosystem and its biodiversity from the
toxic threat of hazardous chemicals, but
REACH, the new EU legislation on chemicals,
could contribute to the protection of a
vulnerable area such as the Baltic Sea.
The need to identify and replace the worst
chemicals that damage the reproduction and
development of marine species is long overdue,
the global conservation organization says.
Once implemented, the REACH system will
prevent persistent and bioaccumulative substances
from further contaminating the Baltic Sea
environment.
"The existing EU chemicals regulation
is obviously not able to provide sufficient
protection, but the debate about a new EU
chemicals policy gives hope for a clean
Baltic," said Lasse Gustavsson, Director
of WWF's Baltic Ecoregion Programme.
"REACH is a once-in-a-generation opportunity
to have safer chemicals and a healthier
future for wildlife and people. New markets
for safer products and increased trust should
make it good news for the chemical industry
too."
NOTES:
1. Perfluorinated compounds are used in
the production of textiles, food packaging,
and non-stick coatings such as Teflon. Brominated
flame retardants are used in fabrics and
TVs.
2. The Baltic Sea is the youngest sea on
the planet. It has a unique marine ecosystem
that plays an important role for the 85
million people who live in the area. The
Baltic Sea is also the only sea almost entirely
within the European Union. Therefore, the
EU has a special responsibility for its
health.
3. The EU has developed a strategy to reduce
human consumption of furans, dioxins and
PCBs lower than 14 pg WHO-TEQ per kg bodyweight
per week. For a transitional period ending
on 31 December 2006, Sweden and Finland
have been authorized to place on the domestic
market fish from the Baltic region with
higher dioxin levels.
This allowance has been granted provided
that a system is put in place to ensure
that consumers are fully informed about
the situation, and particularly about the
risks associated with dioxin for identified
vulnerable groups of the population (HELCOM
2004).
4. REACH (Registration, Evaluation and
Authorisation of Chemicals) is the draft
EU law that should lead to the identification
and phasing out of the most harmful chemicals.
If it becomes law it will be enforced in
all European Union countries.
Under the law, chemical producers would
be obliged to send a registration dossier
containing safety data to a central chemicals
agency for all chemicals produced in quantities
above one tonne a year. Less information
is required the lower the tonnage of chemicals
produced. Experts would then evaluate the
safety data for higher-volume chemicals
and other chemicals of concern. Chemicals
of very high concern would be phased out,
and replaced by safer alternatives, unless
industry can show ‘adequate control’ of
the risk from their use or that their ‘socio-economic’
value outweighed the risks. WWF does not
think that the draft law is tough enough.
