Lots of PFAS in Maine’s Lobsters
By Pat Elder
May 24, 2023
Homarus Americanus Photo - University of Maine
Two years after sampling lobsters for PFAS, a report released in April 2023 by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) says the levels they found do not pose a risk to human health. A closer examination of the concentrations of ten PFAS compounds found in lobster tails and claws reveals otherwise.
The Maine DEP summarized their findings: “American lobster meat was analyzed for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) compounds from 18 sites across the coast of Maine in 2021. Half of the sites had no detected perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) in lobster meat. The other half, which were collected mostly in the southwestern half of the coast, had very low concentrations of PFOS that should not pose risk in human consumption of lobster meat. Nine other PFAS compounds were detected in various samples at very low concentrations.”
The state is saying everything is fine and dandy while they’re paying too much attention to one compound – PFOS - and not enough to the other nine found in the lobsters. Neither Maine nor the EPA have established regulatory levels for PFAS in lobster.
The highest amount of PFOS found in the lobsters tested showed a concentration of 157 ppt, while the state has established Fish Tissue Action Levels (FTAL’s) for recreationally caught freshwater and estuarine finfish at 3,500 ppt. They point out that the PFOS levels in the lobster are just 4.5% of the limit for fish.
The state shouldn’t be establishing such a high level for PFOS in the fish, especially when they have neglected to account for other PFAS compounds known to be in aquatic life. PFOS is no longer manufactured. It has been replaced by some of the other harmful chemicals found in the lobsters that they’re not addressing.
Maine says 3,500 ppt of PFOS in fish is OK once a week while the EPA has set an interim health advisory for PFOS in drinking water at .02 ppt. Asked if there is a difference between eating or drinking PFAS contamination, Linda Birnbaum, former director of the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, said, “No. Both are routes of ingestion. Whether you eat it or drink it, PFAS go to the same places in the body and do the same thing. We need appropriate fish advisories and regulation of what’s in our food.”
Maine still insists on communicating levels of contaminants in fish by referring to nanograms per gram. It would be better if they put it out there in parts per trillion. 60 ng/g = 60 ppb = 60,000 ppt.
Before we get back to the lobsters it’s important to understand that Maine publishes meal advice for differing concentrations of PFOS and allows totals up to 180,000 ppt per year in separate 8-oz servings. The drinking water concentration being considered by the EPA only allows for a very tiny fraction of these levels to be consumed.
Maine allows totals up to 15,000 ppt of PFOS monthly, but that is a concentration. Let’s look at the equivalent dose they say is OK for a woman in her first trimester of pregnancy.
15,000 ppt = 15 ng/g This is a concentration.
8-ounce serving = 227 grams
15 x 227 g (8 oz) = 3,405 nanograms of PFOS. This is a dose.
Maine allows 3,405 nanograms of PFOS monthly or 10,215 nanograms in the first trimester of pregnancy. Have Maine’s environmental scientists talked with their health professionals? Could we maybe get an MD from Maine to tell us this is not a big deal? You’d think that the science linking pre-eclampsia alone would cause a second look. Examine all the diseases now associated with PFOS below. Sampling of waters and aquatic life often show concentrations of PFOS to be dwarfed by other PFAS compounds.
The EPA doesn’t regulate PFAS so it’s up to the states - while most still have not moved to enact fish advisories for the substances. The Great Lakes Consortium for Fish Consumption Advisories has set the limit at 200,000 ppt per year.
Ten PFAS compounds were detected at various concentrations in lobster claw and tail meat. The compounds detected and their maximum concentrations in parts per trillion are shown below. “Associated Diseases” refers to information published by PubChem from the National Center for Biotechnology Information. “Carbon Chain Length” refers to the number of carbon atoms in a particular PFAS molecule. Elimination rates for PFAS in the human body generally decrease as carbon chain length increases so the wide variety of PFAS ingested from eating Maine’s lobsters are likely to wreak havoc on the body for long periods of time.
Compounds, concentrations from Maine CDC Scientific Brief:
2023 PFOS Fish Consumption Advisory April 20, 2023
The values above represent the maximum concentrations for each compound. This is not to suggest that a single lobster was reported to contain a total of 7,567 parts per trillion of PFAS compounds. The state did not furnish us with total levels of PFAS in any one lobster and we were not provided with mean or median levels.
Maine does not allow the combined value of these 6 compounds combined to exceed 20 ppt in drinking water: PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA, PFHpA, and PFDA.
The more we study these chemicals the more frightening they become. PFOS has been studied more than all the other PFAS compounds found in the lobsters put together, while the list of associated diseases tends to grow almost daily. It’s painful but see if you can read through the diseases associated with PFOS.
PFOS is associated with: Adenoma, Asthma, Atrophy, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Brain Diseases, Breast Neoplasms, Cardiotoxicity, Cell Transformation, Neoplastic, Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury, Cleft Palate, Congenital Abnormalities, Conotruncal cardiac defects, Craniofacial Abnormalities, Death, Diabetes, Gestational, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions, Dyslipidemias, Eczema, Embryo Loss, Eye Diseases, Fatty Liver, Fetal Death, Fibrosis, Glioblastoma, Growth Disorders, Hepatitis, Hepatomegaly, Hypertension Hypertrophy, Hyperuricemia, Immune System Diseases, Infertility, Male, Intellectual Disability, Learning Disabilities, Liver Cirrhosis, Liver Neoplasms, Lymphatic Diseases, Lymphopenia, Memory Disorders, Mental Disorders, Necrosis, Nerve Degeneration, Neurologic Manifestations, Oligospermia, Perinatal Death, Pre-Eclampsia, Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects, Teratogenesis, Thyroid Diseases, Thyroid Neoplasms, Vascular Diseases
PFUnDA is associated with Diabetes Mellitus, Eczema, Testicular Disease, Weight Loss.
PFOSA is associated with Teratogenesis, the process by which congenital malformations are produced in an embryo or fetus.
PFNA is associated with Adenoma, Liver Cell Adenoma, Asthma, Breast Neoplasms, Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Liver Injury, Cholestasis, Hepatomegaly, Hyperbilirubinemia, Liver Neoplasms, Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Osteoporosis, Perinatal Death, Prenatal Exposure, Delayed Puberty, Weight Loss
PFDA is associated with Liver Cell Adenoma, Aneuploidy, Asthma, Breast Neoplasms, Carcinoma, Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Glioblastoma, Heart Septal Defects, Liver Neoplasms, Pneumonia , Pre-Eclampsia, Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects.
Don’t eat the tomalley. You’re taking a risk when consuming wild-caught seafood anywhere on earth.
Maine has a consumption advisory on lobster hepatopancreas (tomalley) tissue. The tomalley is the soft, green substance found in the body cavity of the lobster. The hepatopancreas is a glandular structure that combines the digestive functions of the liver and pancreas in vertebrates. It’s frightening that PFAS compounds are closely associated with liver and pancreatic disease in humans.
Maine’s warning says consumers are advised to refrain from eating the tomalley. The tomalley may be loaded with PFAS along with mercury, dioxins, and PCB’s.
Be careful what you eat.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Financial support from the Downs Law Group makes this work possible.
The firm is working to provide legal representation to individuals with a high likelihood of exposure to PFAS and other contaminants.
Interested in joining a multi-base class action law suit pertaining to illnesses stemming from various kinds of environmental contamination?
Join the Veterans & Civilians Clean Water Alliance Facebook group.
(2.4 K members and growing rapidly.)