Evaluation of Contaminants in Meat and Blubber of Minke Whales

In spite of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium on all commercial whaling, two countries, Norway and Japan, continue whaling. The Norwegian whalers target the minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata). Several studies have shown the presence of various halogen-organic contaminants (...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Policy File 2002
Main Authors: Hassauer, Martin, Oltmanns, Jan, Schneider, Klaus
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
Environment
Greenpeace
Health care policy
Online Access:Request full text
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Summary:In spite of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium on all commercial whaling, two countries, Norway and Japan, continue whaling. The Norwegian whalers target the minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata). Several studies have shown the presence of various halogen-organic contaminants (HOCs) in the meat and blubber of minke whales. Simmonds et al. (1994) investigated the contamination of pilot whale blubber and meat and concluded that whale blubber can significantly contribute to the body burden with organochlorines in the Faroe Islands population and that tolerance values for food are exceeded in case of polychlorinated bihphenyls and other organochlorines. Meat from the Norwegian minke hunt is marketed in Norway, but the main driver for the continuation of the Norwegian whaling industry is the prospect of exporting whale products to Japan, where both whale meat and blubber are consumed. In this report, the guidance values for tolerable intake or limit values in foodstuffs of some selected HOCs (based on their identification in minke whale meat and blubber) are compared with the analytical data of HOC concentrations in these tissues as determined in analyses commissioned by Greenpeace and conducted by independent laboratories. Finally, the results and the significance of the comparisons are discussed.