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Yangtze fish carries toxic hormones, says Greenpeace

NON-GOVERNMENT environmentalists in four cities along the Yangtze River have found fish with the so-called "environmental hormone" which mimics the female hormone and can cause sexual prematurity and breast cancer.

Lab tests found the accumulation of two toxic hormones -- Nonyl Phenol and Octyl Phenol in the livers of carp and catfish in the river sections near Chongqing, Wuhan, Ma'anshan and Nanjing, Xinhua news agency reported today.

The two chemicals, usually used in food packaging, product cleansing, and coating by aluminum tins makers, can enter the food chain and cause fertility problems to fish eaters in the long run, said a Greenpeace's report released last week.

While the chemicals have been banned or limited for industrial use in some countries, China currently has no law to control their use.

The international environmental protection group sampled eight newly-caught fish of two kinds in the four cities and sent them to a lab in Britain for tests between January and March.



 

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