PCBs found in ducks spurs state warning

By David L. Chandler
GLOBE STAFF
Globe 8/28/99

     Ducks on the Housatonic River in Western Massachusetts have been found to contain potentially cancer-causing PCBs at more than 200 times the allowable level, the EPA reported yesterday, making them among the most contaminated ever found in the nation.

     Because of the high level of contamination, state public health officials have issued a preliminary advisory about eating wild waterfowl — specifically, wood ducks and mallards — just weeks before the state's duck hunting season begins Oct. 11. They also have asked the US Fish and Wildlife Service to look into alerting other states along the ducks' migratory routes.

     The advisory calls for avoiding any waterfowl from the Housatonic and for limiting intake and taking precautions with wild ducks caught elsewhere in the state.

    "Given the high PCB levels and upcoming duck hunting season, we are moving as quickly as possible to make the public aware of these results and provide some guidance on the appropriateness of consuming waterfowl," said John DeVillars, the regional administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency.

     The findings are "confirmation of the need to move forward aggressively with a cleanup" of the site, he said.

     Fortunately, the major duck flyways in this region are along the Atlantic Seaboard and along the Hudson River valley in New York, not near the contaminated site in Berkshire County.

     According to H. Heusmann, waterfowl biologist for the state Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, 8 percent of the state's approximately 10,000 waterfowlers hunt in the Berkshires.

     PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, were routinely used in the manufacture of transformers for electric power lines until their developmental and probable cancer-causing effects were discovered in the 1970s.

     Many such transformers were manufactured at a General Electric plant in Pittsfield from the 1930s until 1977, when PCBs were banned, and it has long been known that the Housatonic River was seriously contaminated by the now-closed plant. PCBs are very stable compounds that persist once in the environment.

      For nearly a year, the EPA and other agencies have been undergoing intensive negotiations with GE about plans and a timetable for a cleanup, almost all of which is to be paid for by the company, and a final consent decree is expected in the next few weeks, DeVillars said.

      The cleanup is expected to cost "well over $200 million" and last "well into the next decade," said EPA spokesman Peyton Fleming.

      Susan Svirsky, the EPA's project manager for the Housatonic cleanup, stressed that "we are at the very beginning of this study," and it may well be that other animal species may be affected. The agency also is looking into other ways people might be affected by the contaminated river, such as exposure from hunters wading along the shore or other recreational visitors to the state forests that border the river."

      Svirsky described the study to sportsmen meeting in Lee Thursday night. She said some reacted as though they had always assumed there was PCB contamination in the birds, while others said, "Oh, my God, I'm really worried about my health now." She said one hunter said he ate as many as 30 ducks in a year.
 

              The provisional advisory issued yesterday by the state Department of Public Health explained that PCBs, which accumulate over time in the fatty tissues of animals and humans, are associated with developmental problems in infants and fetuses, damage to the immune system, and a probable cancer risk.

     The advisory suggested that people avoid consuming any waterfowl from the affected area of the Housatonic, from Pittsfield to Great Barrington.

    It also suggested that anyone eating wild waterfowl (except migratory Canada geese, which are believed to be unaffected) from anywhere in the state should limit such meals to no more than twice a month.
     They should also skin the ducks and remove all fat before cooking, discard the stuffing after cooking, and refrain from using any drippings for gravy.

     Ducks served in restaurants or sold in stores farm-raised and are not subject to these warnings, the officials said.

     Official warnings against eating fish (as well as frogs and turtles) from the river have been in place since 1982, but this is the first time waterfowl from the area have been tested.

     Levels of PCBs found in the flesh of ducks caught last summer, when adjusted for fat content according to US Food and Drug Administration standards, were found to average 648 parts per million — 216 times the FDA's "tolerance level" of 3 ppm.

     In fact, one 6-month-old wood duck was found to have an adjusted level of 3,700 ppm— more than 1,200 times the tolerance level.

     And the average concentratious in the 25 ducks tested were 17 times higher than those found in ducks at a  heavily PCB-contaminated Superfund site in Wisconsin, which is one of two states, along with New York, that have already issued advisories against eating wild waterfowl.

     "The test results are further evidence of the serious damage to the Housatonic River," said Bob Durand, secretary of the state's Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. "We must expedite cleanup efforts to protect wildlife habitat along the river from further PCB contamination."

     For control purposes, testing was also done at nearby Three Mile Pond in Sheffield, which is considered uncontaminated. While the results there were much lower than on the Housatonic, many of those ducks also exceeded the FDA tolerance level.

     The state Department of Public Health maintains a hot line for people concerned about PCB exposure, at 1-800-240-4266. The office will conduct interviews and provide free blood tests to check exposure levels.