What are the health effects of eating fish contaminated with DDTs and PCBs?
The more contaminated fish you eat over your lifetime, the greater your risk of developing health problems related to DDTs or PCBs. Eating fish with DDTs and PCBs does not make people sick right away. However, these chemicals can build up and stay in your body for a long time. This might cause health problems later. Health effects associated with DDTs and PCBs include: cancer, liver damage, and effects on the immune, endocrine, neurological, and reproductive systems. Many effects have only been shown in animal tests, but could occur in humans. Health risks resulting from exposure to these chemicals may also be higher for infants and young children. During pregnancy and lactation, mothers can pass DDTs and PCBs on to their infants. These chemicals can then affect overall growth and development, and brain development and function. Some children born to mothers with high amounts of PCBs in their bodies, as a result of eating fish with high levels of PCBs, showed delayed growth and develop
The more contaminated fish you eat over your lifetime, the greater your risk of developing health problems related to DDTs or PCBs. Eating fish with DDTs and PCBs does not make people sick right away. However, these chemicals can build up and stay in your body for a long time. This might cause health problems later.
