Could You Be Getting PCBs With Your Omega-3 Fatty Acids?

[HOTROCKS]

Fish oil supplements are constantly touted for their seemingly miraculous health benefits because they contain omega 3 fatty acids. But a new lawsuit contends they may contain something else, too: PCBs, industrial chemicals that were banned back in the 1970s because they cause cancer and birth defects.

A recent lawsuit in California has thrown the spotlight on some fish oils.
Beneath the surface of waterways like the Chesapeake Bay, small, filter fish ingest polychlorinated biphenyl compounds, or PCBs, that were deposited there decades ago by electrical plants and other polluters.

When environmental activists tested 10 different fish oil supplements, they say every one contained PCBs.

According to California law, people should not be exposed to more than 90 nanograms of this carcinogen a day. But the results of the activists' tests showed three of the 10 -- Nature Made Cod Liver Oil, and Now Foods' Salmon Oil and Double Strength Cod Liver Oil -- contained much more than that.

The rest of the story
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/ConsumerNews/truth-fish-oil-concerns/story?id=9994049

 

[John Benz]

Mostly just a "scare" because an "ambulance chaser" saw a clever way to sue the big vitamin companies and make a fast buck. He knows he could never win, but possibly one or two of the 9 manufacturers will grease his palm to settle out of court. Then, the other companies will use stricter controls and the price of fish oil will double for the consumer, with a safety improvement so slight, that it wouldn't matter one iota.

Bottom line...the benefits of EFA and EPA in 3-4 capsules of Fish Oil for a man over 30 far outweigh the risk.