By Staff

(AXcess News) Reno - An environmental watchdog group has revealed that many people living in Japan have high levels of mercury  from eating whale and dolphin meat, charging that the government is overlooking the problem.

The news backs up the health risks of eating whale and dolphin meat highlighted in a new report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), whose two-year study has revealed high pollution levels in numerous such food products sold nationwide.

The weekly news magazine AERA, published by the Asahi Shimbun, reported a study carried out by the National Institute of Minamata Disease (NIMD) measured mercury in hair samples from Taiji residents. Taiji is Japan's oldest whaling community. The levels found ranged from 3.6ppm to 86.30ppm, all exceeding the average levels found in Japanese people which are 2.5ppm in men and 1.6ppm in women.

A separate two-year study by the EIA revealed that Japanese consumers faced high health risks associated with eating whale and dolphin meat, noting that the NIMD study only confirmed their findings - yet politicians there remain mute on the topic.

Overseas studies have indicated that mercury level in the hair of pregnant women less than 10ppm can cause impairments in unborn children.

In Taiji, people eat whale meat almost every day, including a high proportion of toothed whales, dolphins and porpoises.

The EIA report released this week at the 60th meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) revealed that 52 per cent of 67 whale, dolphin and porpoise product samples collected in 2006 and 2007 exceeded the Japanese Government's regulatory limits in seafood for either mercury, methylmercury or PCBs. Laboratory testing of one whale meat sample discovered mercury levels 17 times higher than safe regulatory limits and presence of methylmercury 12 times higher than the limit.

Despite this, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in Japan has recently failed to add whales, dolphins and porpoises to the list of seafood species covered by the regulatory limits.

Clare Perry, EIA's Senior Cetacean Campaigner said: "The results of the hair analysis from Taiji residents are of great concern but not at all surprising. All of the coastal whale and dolphin products we tested exceeded the government's own recommended levels for seafood - yet none were labelled with warnings to consumers about the dangerously high levels of mercury they contained. Moreover, retailers can knowingly sell these toxic products without fear of legal action."

According to the AERA article, Director General Kazuko Kamiya of Japan's health ministry has concluded that a survey on mercury levels in the hair of all Taiji residents is required in response to the newsgroups findings. However Taiji's Town Mayor refused to comment on the matter when approached by AERA.

EIA is urging the Japanese government to phase out all coastal whale, dolphin and porpoise hunts, starting with the dolphin hunts in Taiji which produce the most toxic food products. Local assemblymen in Taiji recently called for an end to the use of dolphin and pilot whale meat in school lunches after testing samples of pilot whale meat and finding high mercury levels.

EIA is also calling upon the government to prohibit the sale of all whale products that contain or are suspected to contain toothed whale, dolphin or porpoise. DNA analysis of the EIA samples showed that more than a quarter of products were not labelled with the correct species name.

"Legislation has existed in Japan for more than 30 years which calls for the removal of seafood products with far lower mercury levels than those found in our survey. Residents of Taiji and other areas of high whale and dolphin consumption need to be warned by their government without delay," Perry said.

Copies of EIA's report, 'Poisonous Policies' are available at the meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Chile, this week.