Saturday, August 23, 2008

How Chemicals May Be Killing Off Lobsters

Lobsters are big business here on Cape Cod. Every fish store and fish restaurant sells lobster. The lobsters from Long Island Sound to Southern New England have been dying due to a problem affecting their shells, which apparently look as if they have been eroded by acid. Now scientists think they have solved the mystery. It seems the culprit is alkylphenols, which do not break down in the low-oxygen water at the depths of the ocean, that murky kingdom, which lobsters call home. These alkylphenols come from wastewater. They get into wastewater when people use and dispose of cosmetics, plastics, and detergents. Regular blog readers know many chemicals are not good for people, anymore than they are good for lobsters. I have harped on the dangers of cosmetics quite often here and always cringe when the occasional guest shows up with an artillery array of spray bottles, creams, and other so-called beauty products. Check the safety of yours at this Web site. Don’t you think we should take note of yet another canary in the coalmine? Overuse of man-made chemicals is NOT GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH. For further information on this discovery by Woods Hole scientists, read Doug Fraser’s Cape Cod Times article “Man-made chemicals tied to sick lobsters”.