WASHINGTON — Chemical dispersants sprayed into the Gulf of Mexico to break up the oil spill do not appear to threaten the safety of seafood in the affected waters, said the Food and Drug Administration.
In a letter sent in response to questions from Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., the agency responsible for ensuring the safety of seafood said chemicals used to break up the slicks are not as dangerous to human health as the oil itself.
FDA scientists do not think the chemicals accumulate significantly in the tissue of fish and shellfish, and so, even if the fish absorb the chemicals, they do not retain them, Jeanne Ireland, FDA’s assistant commissioner for legislation, wrote to Markey.
That means the chemicals do not pass up the food chain to humans and are not considered a public health concern, according to the FDA.
BP sprayed 1.8 million gallons of the dispersant Corexit on the surface of the gulf and, for the first time, at the wellhead a mile underwater. The Washington Post
