A study published in the Environmental Science and Technology journal on Tuesday shows that farmed salmon retain higher levels of chemical flame retardants than wild salmon in the Pacific Northwest.

Levels in farmed salmon ranged between 1 and 4 parts per billion, while wild salmon showed concentrations on average of 0.5 parts per billion. But wild chinook salmon showed higher levels than farmed salmon, which researchers said was due to the chinook's larger size and the fact that it is higher on the food chain.

The study was funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, which funded another study that showed farmed salmon, which have higher levels of PCBs, dioxin and other cancer-causing contaminants than wild salmon.

Get the Story:
Farmed Salmon Raise Concerns (The Washington Post 8/11)
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Tainted chinook found in wild (The Seattle Post-Intelligencer 8/10)

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