Are Fish Toxins Linked to Diabetes?

Written by Tena Moore

A new study focused on boat captains fishing in the Great Lakes area found a link between DDE and diabetes. DDE is a fat soluble breakdown product of the toxic, synthetic pesticide DDT. DDE hardly ever gets excreted from the body, except through breast milk during nursing. For this reason, it tends to build up in the fat and liver of the body throughout life. Now it may be more than a toxin; it may be a diabetic concern.

The study found that Great Lakes fishermen were more likely to develop diabetes than the general population, and that they also had higher amounts of DDE in their blood. The results were published in Environmental Health Perspectives. The study was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Why the Great Lakes area? DDT was used for farming in the area before it was banned in the U.S. over 37 years ago. It remains a toxin in the Great Lakes region. Since boat captains tend to eat more fish than other fishermen, they were the best fisherman to test. The boat captains used for the study had been fishing in the area for a minimum of 15 years.

The researchers aren’t sure what the link is between DDE and diabetes, but they are suggesting that people get a wide variety of fish types, from a wide variety of water sources in their diet. Since eating fish is a healthy dietary choice, the researchers do not want to discourage people from eating fish altogether, but simply make them aware that eating too much from the same water source is not the best idea.





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