03 Feb 2004, 14:16 UTC
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VOICE ONE:
This is Science in the News, in VOA Special English. I'm SarahLong.
VOICE TWO:
And, I'm Bob Doughty. This week ... a study examines health risksfrom salmon raised in farms. Workers count India's big cats verycarefully. And scientists discover the bones of an ancient lion inEgypt.
VOICE ONE:
Coming up -- lions and tigers and ... fish!
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VOICE ONE:
A study has found that salmonraised in sea farms contain higher levels of pollutants than wildsalmon. But the levels are still well within legal limits.
The magazine Science published the findings. A group ofscientists from the United States and Canada tested salmon forchemicals linked to cancer. They studied seven-hundred-fifty salmonbought in North America, South America and Europe. They usedguidelines established by the United States Environmental ProtectionAgency.
The study took two years. It found higher levels of P-C-B's,dioxin and other chemicals in farm-raised salmon. The levels were anaverage of ten times higher than in salmon caught in the open sea.
The study found that salmon from European markets generally hadthe highest levels of pollutants. The study included the cities ofEdinburgh, Frankfurt, London, Oslo and Paris. The researchers foundthe lowest levels in salmon bought in the American cities of NewOrleans and Denver.
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The researchers say people can safely eat four to eight servingsof wild salmon a month. A serving is about two-hundred-thirty grams.But they say eating more than one serving of farmed salmon a monthin most cases creates what they call an "unacceptable cancer risk."
The United States Food and Drug Administration, however,disagrees with this advice. Agency officials say they find no healthconcern. Their advice to people is not to change their eating offarmed or wild salmon.
Federal and industry officials say the level of dangerouschemicals in salmon has decreased by ninety-percent since thenineteen-seventies. They say any threat is small compared to thegood that eating salmon can do.
Salmon is high in omega-three fatty acids. These can help preventheart disease. Salmon is also among fish that are lower in levels ofmercury pollution. Mercury is especially bad for the nervous systemsof young children and the babies of pregnant women and nursingmothers.
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The study tested uncooked salmon with the skin left on. Healthofficials say most pollutants are in the skin and the fat justbelow. They say removing the skin and cooking away fat removes manyof the pollutants.
The study says the chemicals apparently entered the farm-raisedsalmon through the fish products they were fed. Salmon in the wildeat small fish and sea organisms that contain fewer P-C-B's andother chemicals.
The salmon industry notes that meat and milk products can alsocontain P-C-B's. But it says salmon farmers are reducing the levelsin their food by using, for example, soybean oil in place of fishoil.
P-C-B's were used to make products like plastics and paint. TheUnited States banned this group of chemicals in thenineteen-seventies. But they remain in the environment.
Another chemical, dioxin, is released when plastics and someother materials are burned. Dioxin has been linked to reproductiveand developmental problems in addition to cancer.
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Raising salmon in floating cages has become a major industry. Inthe United States, ninety percent of the fresh salmon that peoplebuy is farm-raised. More than half comes from Chile. The study sayschemical levels in farmed salmon from Chile are lower than in mostother areas. But it says the levels are still higher than in wildsalmon.
People do not always know if the salmon they eat was farmed orwild or where it came from. The study calls for stores and eatingplaces to provide more information.
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In December, the Food and Drug Administration advised people notto eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel or tilefish. These containhigh levels of mercury.
The agency says people can generally eat other fish and shellfishtwo to three times a week. But it says fish caught in localwaterways may not be as safe. The F-D-A also says people should noteat the same kind of fish or shellfish more than once a week.
In the United States, tuna is one of the most popular kinds offish. The Food and Drug Administration says tuna is safe forpregnant women. But it says tuna steaks and canned albacore tunagenerally contain higher levels of mercury than canned light tuna.
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VOICE TWO:
Scientists from France have foundthe remains of a lion in an ancient burial place in Egypt. Theresearchers say it appears that the body had been specially treatedafter death to protect the remains of the big cat. Egyptians didthis to the bodies of important people and animals.
Lions are described in the art and writings of ancient Egypt. Butthe researchers say no physical evidence had been found until now.
They reported that they found the lion south of Cairo in theburial place of Maia. She served as a caretaker for KingTutankhamen. The boy king died more than three-thousand years ago.
The scientists say the discovery confirms that Egyptiansconsidered lions a sacred animal. They reported that the lion hadbeen placed on a rock in a large room in the burial place.
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Alain Zivie led the team. He says it was immediately apparentthat the animal was a lion. He says the skeleton of the male lionwas in almost perfect condition.
The report appears in the magazine Nature. The researchers saythe lion apparently lived to an old age and had been cared for byhumans.
Mister Zivie says the animal could have represented a god. Butsome other scientists question this theory. They point out that theresearchers did not find evidence of the cloth used to wrapimportant people and animals after death. One scientist suggeststhat the lion might have been important as a family pet.
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VOICE TWO:
Early results from a count oftigers in eastern India are providing hope for efforts to save thatanimal. A team of Indian environmental workers recently counted thetigers in the Sunderbans forest. This area is a little more thannine-thousand square meters. It lies along the border between Indiaand Bangladesh. It is the largest forest of mangrove trees in theworld.
The Sunderbans forest is one of twenty-seven protected areas forIndia's tigers. Pradeep Vyas is the field director. He led the teamsthat did the count. The workers searched the ground and collectedhundreds of footprints. Each tiger has a paw print that can be usedfor identification, just like a human fingerprint. The workers usedplaster material to make copies.
Mister Vyas says gathering prints is dangerous. The collectorcould come across the owner of the prints at any time.
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Mister Vyas says collectors gathered twenty percent more printsthis year than in the last count two years ago. He says this is agood sign. But more prints do not necessarily mean more tigers.Myster Vyas, however, say he feels sure that the number of youngtigers has increased. He says this is a sign of a healthyenvironment.
Estimates place the Sunderbans tiger population at abouttwo-hundred-seventy on the Indian side and four-hundred inBangladesh.
The Indian government started Project Tiger innineteen-seventy-three in an effort to save the cats. But since thenineteen-seventies, the number of Indian tigers has dropped fromabout five thousand to an estimated three-thousand-five-hundred. Oneproblem is illegal hunting. Tiger parts are highly valued in EastAsia for use in traditional medicines.
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Another problem is development. Dipankar Ghosh works for theWildlife Trust of India. He says people and tigers compete for foodand space. Tigers kill an estimated fifty villagers a year in theSunderbans forest. Forest officials are trying to improve economicconditions for villagers. And they urge people not to kill tigersthat enter villages. The tigers are part of the environmental systemthat the villagers depend on.
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VOICE TWO:
SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Caty Weaver and Cynthia Kirk,who was also our producer. This is Bob Doughty.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Sarah Long. Join us again next week for more newsabout science in Special English on the Voice of America.