foodconsumer.org: Pollutants in fish linked to high risk of diabetes

Pollutants in fish linked to high risk of diabetes
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admin on 08/30/2009 20:14:00
 
David Liu -- daidl (at) foodconsumer.org
Eating too much of fish from the Great Lakes region may increase risk of
developing diabetes because the fish is contaminated with a chemical known as
DDE (dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene), according to a new study.
Great Lakes boat captains who ate more fish had more DDE in their blood and were
more likely to develop diabetes, the study published in the journal
Environmental Health Perspectives in July found.
DDE is a metabolite in fish that ingest the prevalent pesticide DDT
(dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), which was banned in the United States 37
years and is still persistent today in the Great Lakes region.
An early study of 80,000 people found a link between pollutants and risk of
diabetes but did not reveal which chemical is responsible.  The current study
found DDE is the chemical that may raise the risk of diabetes.