Thousands Could Be Eating Contaminated Anacostia Fish

Chemicals in the fat tissue of fish can affect the immune system of humans who eat it and can even cause birth defects.

By Maria-Pia Negro, Capital News Service Sharing your food is supposed to be good thing. But when it comes to fish from the polluted Anacostia River, researchers want anglers to stop sharing their contaminated catch.   Half of Anacostia fishermen share their fish with others along the watershed, according to a new survey released by local environmental groups. Most of the anglers—who are disproportionately African American, Asian and Hispanic—share the fish with underemployed neighbors or are begged for fish that they would otherwise throw back. “This causes a community of 1,000 to 2,000 anglers to extend the consumption of the Anacostia protein to 15,000 or 17,000 people,” said Mike Bolinder of Anacostia Riverkeeper, one of the groups …

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