Toxins in Lake Michigan fish linked to diabetes

[ensho]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-fish-diabetes-bdaug23,0,7994362.story


-snip-

That's because a new study of Great Lakes boat captains over 15 years found a correlation between the chemical DDE and diabetes. Those who ate more fish had more DDE in their blood and were more likely to develop diabetes, according to results published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives in July.

DDE is produced in the bodies of small bottom-feeding fish from ingesting the prevalent pesticide DDT. The chemical transfers to bigger fish when they eat smaller fish and then accumulates in the fat and liver of people who eat lots of what they catch.

"Sports fishermen are at the top of the food chain," said Bruce Fowler, assistant director of science at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which funded the study, along with the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Charter boat captains tend to catch and eat more fish than the average recreational fisherman. But the captains care about their health, said Henry Anderson of the Wisconsin Division of Public Health, who managed the study.

"Many saw that their levels were high from the study and they cut back on their intake of fish," he said.

Exactly how DDE may lead to diabetes is unknown. Another pesticide, Agent Orange, can cause diabetes, but it's believed to do so in a different way than DDE, said Mary Turyk, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and lead author of the study.
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[ensho]

1. kicking back to pg. 1 as this is an important subject

nt

[Sinistrous]

2. Agree that this is important.

[hedgehog]

3. Pffft! Everyone knows people get diabetes from being overweight

because they sit around watching television and eating chips and candy while drinking sods.



:sarcasm: