Fishing Families In Sydney Register 10 - 25X National Averages For Dioxin

[hatrack]

SHOCKED Sydney Harbour fishermen and their families were left feeling devastated and betrayed yesterday after receiving their dioxin blood test results at Concord Hospital. The devastation was mainly felt by the fishermen's wives who were not expecting that they and their children would have levels many times the Australian average.

And their betrayal was aimed at a State Government that allowed them to catch and eat seafood even when it knew there were high levels of cancer-causing dioxins in parts of the Harbour.

Fisherman Spiros Kandiliotis, 57, could barely contain his rage when he learned he, his son and his young grandchildren had all been poisoned by dioxins in the seafood he used to bring home. Mr Kandiliotis recorded 119 picograms of dioxins - almost 12 times the Australian adult average of 10. A picogram is a trillionth of a gram. Children usually have extremely low levels of dioxins - but that is not the case for Mr Kandiliotis's grandchildren. His grandson Alexander, 5, already has dioxin levels of 25 picograms - more than twice the Australian adult average. Three-year-old Christopher recorded 18 and Stefan - just 18 months old - 19, almost twice the adult average.

"Why has the Government lied to us all these years? We have been poisoned - these children ... have been poisoned," Mr Kandiliotis said. Fran Forrester, whose husband Mark is one of the fishermen, was stunned to learn her result was many times the average at 57.

EDIT

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,19853638-5001021,00.html

[donsu]

1. kicking for truth - US waters are just as toxic

nt