| Testing finds Gulf Seafood is pristine |
|
SEAFOOD.COM by John Sackton - June 17, 2010 - Initial tests by NOAA on over 600 samples of Gulf seafood, taken from both outside the closed areas and inside, show that so far, seafood has remained pristine. According to Dr. Steven Murawski, Chief Science Advisor for NOAA Fisheries Service, samples have been tested both for sensory and chemical analysis. Murawski said that the chemical tests involve looking for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (P AH), which are the items of concern in an oil spill. He said that the baseline tests of Gulf seafood showed pristine levels. In fact, seafood from the Gulf was cleaner and less contaminated that typical seafood samples from some other coasts, primarily, says Murawski, because the areas sampled in the Gulf are far from any large population centers. He said that closer to major cities, there is more environmental contamination with PAH's. The chemical tests look for a variety of compounds, and they are sensitive for some compounds down to the level of 2 parts per billion. The sensory analysis is being done at the NOAA lab in Pascagoula, MS, and the chemical analysis is being done in Washington State. Samples tested so far revealed no differences between samples taken outside the closed zones, and samples taken from within the closed zones. The NOAA scientists were a little surprised at how clean the samples actually were, given the long history of oil related activities in the Gulf. On the same front, Dr. Michael Taylor, deputy commissioner at the FDA, told Congress yesterday about the FDA and NOAA testing program. He said that current science does not suggest that dispersants bioaccumulate in seafood. NOAA, however, is conducting studies to look at that issue and he said FDA will be closely reviewing the results of those studies. The FDA has deployed its Mobile Chemistry Laboratory to the Florida Department of Agriculture in Tallahassee, which will be used to run chemical analyses of samples collected by States for select volatile organic compounds. The technique will screen seafood samples for volatile headspace chemical compounds that may be indicative of petroleum taint. Positive results from these tests will trigger further chemical analysis for PAH. FDA has seven employees currently deployed to the Mobile Lab. FDA's Arkansas Regional Laboratory has begun to test Gulf seafood samples collected by States, while three additional FDA field laboratories and state labs in California, Florida, Arizona and Wisconsin that are members of FDA's Food Emergency Response Network (FERN) continue to work on the implementation of testing protocols and methodology for P AH. These laboratories are expected to be ready to begin running samples by the end of June, and additional state and federal labs are also preparing to assist in the sample analysis. |