https://morgenbladet.no/aktuelt/2018/04/det-vi-ikke-vet-om-laksen
English Translation:
"I became suspicious and curious. What happens to me when I eat the salmon? "
In 2015, a Norwegian researcher will be interviewed on German television. Victoria Bohne had researched farmed salmon at the National Institute for Nutrition and Seafood Research (Nifes). The task was to investigate a substance called ethoxyquin (EQ). Along the way, Bohne became skeptical of the drug. She thought about the health of the children, and no longer dared to eat farmed salmon, "she said in the interview with German state television. The discovery contributed to a strained relationship with the bosses of the Nifes, she claims.
Now, the deadline is for ethoxyquin, a substance that the EU wants out of the market, but as Norway is dependent on. The industry and Norwegian researchers make a final attempt to show that the drug is safe, which after several years of efforts has not been possible.
NIFES. 2001-2005
The grantee. Nifes, once known as the Norwegian Fisheries Directorate's Nutrition Institute, is beautifully located in old wooden houses by the waterfront in Bergen. In and out of the doors goes Norway's most acclaimed seafood scientists. The institute is under the Ministry of Trade and Industry (NFD), but the researchers insist on their independence. Asks some questions about Norwegian salmon, they will be sent here.
In 2001 a new fellowship came. A study mate goes well for her and says Victoria Bohne was "energetic and sharp, committed, hard working". Today she is long-term sick and can not give an interview. This story is based on other sources, and interviews Bohne have provided to international media.
Her assignment at Nifes was to study ethoxyquin, a synthetic antioxidant that is added to the fishmeal in salmon feed. The meal is shipped with ships from South America. Along the way, the fat can rush and the shipwreckers catch fire. To prevent this, add ethoxyquin. This is mandatory. Alternative substances exist, but they are more expensive and are considered to be inferior.
Side effects . The yellowish, liquid, odorless substance was first synthesized by German chemist Emil Knoevenagel in 1921. It was cheap and practical in use. The image industry found that it prevented tires from cracking. The Monsanto Group added it to animal feed. It was sprayed on apples and pears to avoid brown spots.
Project EQ: Seafood nation in battle for Norwegian interests. Illustration: Simen Sætre
In 1969, people began to worry about potential side effects. Experiments with rats, dogs and chickens showed that the substance was not secreted, but turned into new substances, so-called metabolites , which jumped up in the organs of the experimental animals.
"Suddenly it was completely black, what I had between my hands. The substance changed character. It was unwise to be wise on this substance, "said Norwegian researcher Janneche Utne Skåre to the Fisheries Journal about his attempted ethoxyquin trials in the 1970s. She did groundbreaking studies on salmon and rats. In attempted salmon she found that the drug was transferred from the feed and to liver, fat, kidneys and fillets. She discovered the pathway of the synthetic drug through the body, through the kidneys and urine system, and into which organs it gathered. She wrote that the drug could deform liver cells.
Soon more studies came. The substance could contribute to bladder cancer in rats, a researcher claimed. No, it could prevent cancer, claimed another. A third found that it was carcinogenic in urinary bladder and kidney, but stopped liver cancer. A rat test showed possible association with gastric cancer. The findings were worrisome but contradictory.
Doubtful . It began tapping concern messages to the US Food Safety Authority. Ethoxyquin was added in dog food - could it be the cause of the damage to the dogs' liver, kidneys, thyroid gland and reproductive organs? Was it related to cancer and allergy?
British Margaret Manson found that ethoxyquin damaged kidneys, affected the brain and accelerated aging in male rats. Newborn rats had problems in the urinary tract. Female rats tolerated the drug better.
New study, this time from Japan: A substance from the production of ethoxyquin, β-phenetide , damaged the genetic material of hamsters.
People who came into contact with the drug reported reports of skin pains and allergies, but how dangerous were they?
In 1998, a UN and World Health Organization (WHO) expert group was set up to set an "acceptable daily intake" (ADI). They knew a little, they wrote. Studies on humans did not exist. Possible damage to the bladder was noted, allergies as well, the substance accumulated in the body, but could it alter genetic information and create mutations and cancer? They did not know.
Searched the Research Council . In 2000, Nifes sought funding for studying ethoxyquin in farmed fish. Europe had experienced food scandals for several years. E. coli, cowshed, environmental pollutants, closed limits, destruction of lass with meat and chicken. The EU introduced a directive on the monitoring of undesirable substances in the food.
SALMON FEED
The salmon eats pellets with 30 percent marine and 70 percent vegetable raw materials (soya, sunflower, rapeseed, corn, vegetable beans, wheat), according to the industry. A quarter of the feed is soya, mainly from Brazil. 17 percent are fishmeal, usually shipped with boats from South America.
Sources: laksefakta.no and the rainforest fund / the future in our hands
