04/27/2007

Associated Press

Washington health officials are warning against eating clams from the Columbia River after a study found they were contaminated with high levels of PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls.

The advisory applies only to Washington; the spike in PCB levels was found along the Washington bank for two miles downstream from the former Vanalco aluminum smelter site in Vancouver, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study.

PCBs found in the clams are potentially cancer-causing and can cause developmental problems in newborns exposed during pregnancy, said Dr. Alan Melnick, Clark County health officer.

It is against state law to harvest freshwater shellfish.

Low levels of PCBs were found in the clams in the Willamette River and Portland harbor, said Ken Kauffman, an environmental health specialist with the Oregon Department of Human Services.

State officials have posted signs in Washington where the PCB levels were highest and where people have been seen digging clams. The warnings are written in Vietnamese, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Cambodian, Lao and English.

The clams were brought into Washington in the 1970s from Southeast Asia, where they are a common food source.

The Washington Department of Ecology will oversee cleanup of the contaminated sediments at and near the smelter site during the next 18 months.

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Information from: The Oregonian