Jeremy,
Very interesting. Why would a fairly high profile TV show and researcher make
such statements, when the statements would appear to be without supporting
evidence? I will contact the Catalyst crew and ask if they can supply
supporting evidence for the claim of heavy metal adsorption to microplastics. I
will post their responses on B-A, if there are any.
Cheers,
Carl Clifford
On 06/09/2012, at 11:31 PM, Jeremy O'Wheel <> wrote:
> My email and response on this topic!
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Maureendavey
> Date: Thu, Sep 6, 2012 at 10:49 PM
> Subject: Re: ABC Catalyst - seabird heavy metals
> To: Jeremy O'Wheel <>
>
>
> Hi Jem
>
> I have been sick all week with a sore throat and constant cough. So
> miserable. But only a week ago I was relaxed, happy, holidayed so I'm
> looking forward to a return of that state, hopefully tomorrow!
>
> Jennifer Lavers is the woman who asserted that (Tasmanian) muttonbirds had
> high levels of heavy metals, but when we (TAC and DHHS) sent muttonbirds
> and muttonbird oil to the Australian food standards laboratory for analysis
> the levels of heavy metals were either undetectable or well within safe
> limits. We were transparent about the source of muttonbirds sent for
> analysis (3 different commercial rookeries from 2011 season), could trace
> their journey from rookery to laboratory, used a reputable laboratory
> accredited to analyse foods for metal contamination, and shared results
> with Lavers and colleagues.
>
> Her lab was not prepared to be open about their methodology or their
> detailed results, but that hasn't stopped them making claims in the media.
> Their previous work has been on analysing feathers, and like hair analysis
> in humans, it is not a reliable indicator of what is going on inside the
> body. Heavy metals can be found in hair or feathers for many reasons, but
> frequently the source is external contamination.
>
> I agree decreasing the extent of plastic pollution would be a good thing,
> but I think claiming this leads to heavy metal toxicity in the chicks of
> migratory birds such as shearwaters lacks scientific plausibility and I am
> yet see any reputable and reproducible evidence of contamination of the
> flesh.
>
> Thanks for sending me the link.
>
> Maureen
>
>
> On 06/09/2012, at 9:12 PM, "Jeremy O'Wheel" <> wrote:
>
> Hi Maureen,
>
> How are you? It sounded like you had a good trip to NSW with Mon!
>
> I was wondering if you saw this;
>
> http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3583576.htm
>
> People on one of my birding email lists have been talking about it. Do you
> have an opinion on it that I could convey to them?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Jeremy
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