Oil residues found in 8 food samples from Rayong oil slick sites

[webfact]

Oil residues found in 8 food samples from oil slick sites
By English News



BANGKOK, Aug 8 – Random tests of eight food samples from Rayong which was recently hit by an extensive oil slick found five kinds of residues of concern--but within health standards, with another test planned for next Thursday, according to the Public Health Ministry.

Public Health Minister Pradit Sintavanarong said eight samples of seafood, mussels and fresh fish were collected from markets in Phe and Klaeng to measure possible residues from the oil slick from a PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC) offshore platform.

Officials found mercury, lead, cadmium and arsenic at standard levels in the food samples, as well as heavy metals below standard level, he said.

Without the oil spill, such residues are normally found in food, he said.

He added that food samples would be collected from the same locations for another round of tests on August 15.

Rayong health officials inspected 70 food shops on Samet Island, Mae Rampung Beach and Phe market, and found that their foods were safe from toxins and met the required standard, the minister said.

The ministry has checked urine of 1,594 people who helped clean up the slick to measure possible t,t muconic acid. Among the 603 results already released, only one was found to have t,t muconic acid, which was at 723 microgrammes – higher than the warning level of 500 microgrammes.

The man helped in cleaning up the oil slick at Phrao Bay on Samet Island, the minister said, adding that he would be summoned for further health check and blood test.

The Public Health Ministry will follow up on health impact to area residents and slick-cleaning staff in Phrao Bay for the next five years, he said.

Nipon Lerdsrisuwattana district chief in the Rayong provincial seat, said 1,127 people, mainly fishermen and hotel and restaurant operators, have applied for compensation at a coordination centre specially set up at the district office.

People affected by the slick are invited to apply for compensation at three centres – the Rayong provincial seat district office, Phe municipality office and Koh Samet municipality office until August 31. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2013-08-08

[MaxLee]

So the logical feudal Thai way of solution:

Blame the vendors for selling bad seafood, but never blame your sorry lazy-azzzed leniency and incompetent handling yourself, to preserve Company President face

[NongKhaiKid]

No, no, no there is nothing wrong and I know because an official told me as he was tucking into seafood in full view of the media.

Oh what's that and keep it quiet, he wasn't eating local seafood. Got it !

[bigbamboo]

I was offered a week for myself and the family at a top resort on Koh Samet the other day for just 5000 baht all in.

I still turned it down though, insisting I wouldn't take a satang less than 10000.

[nakhonandy]

MaxLee

Absolutely spot on.

Not a glimmer of responsibility or culpability. Totally useless.

Sent from my GT-P7500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[ChrisY1]

"Without the oil spill, such residues are normally found in food, he said."

Probably true for most farmed seafoods on the Thai coastline.....the polution in the Gulf is terrible....but the "foods" are ok for eating.....wouldn't want to start any panic now would we!!!

[Thai at Heart]

And of course, absolutely no mention of how high the level of contamination was.

Is it normal? Or did it miss breaking the limit by 1 ppm? Bearing in mind, that the plankton that will eat this stuff, will be consumed by the food chain, and as such it concentrates the levels the higher up the chain you go over time. It's been a week or so, give it another week, and the levels will probably have risen.

[MaxLee]

MaxLee

Absolutely spot on.

Not a glimmer of responsibility or culpability. Totally useless.

Sent from my GT-P7500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

You're welcome,... and btw it sucks to be given certain warning due to extremely severely sarcastic jokes... but I'll try my best to control myself from now on

back to topic,... it's a huge mess and you know water can flow, and it can crash into many directions, think about the remainings that aimlessly flow in all direction up to the Gulf of Thailand and the Chaopraya area...

[allan michaud]

So the title "Oil residues found in..." is complete rubbish. And all they found were trace amounts of dangerous chemicals, which they would quite naturally be looking for when testing any samples. They will have to run specific individual tests to look for certain elements, such as Mercury. Its not as simple as testing a sample and seeing whats in it, it doesn't work that way.

While we have no idea what the actual levels were we have to assume they were as stated, below certain acceptable international standards.

They seem to be doing their jobs so I don't understand the bashing going on here on TV. It seems most is out of ignorance.

[PoodMaiDai]

Oily fish is best served with contaminated rice.

[zydeco]

And don't forget to take in lungfulls of nice Bangkok air with your Rayong fish and sprayed rice. I cannot find an active air quality index reading for anywhere in this area. What we don't know will not hurt us, I guess.

[Thai at Heart]

So the title "Oil residues found in..." is complete rubbish. And all they found were trace amounts of dangerous chemicals, which they would quite naturally be looking for when testing any samples. They will have to run specific individual tests to look for certain elements, such as Mercury. Its not as simple as testing a sample and seeing whats in it, it doesn't work that way.

While we have no idea what the actual levels were we have to assume they were as stated, below certain acceptable international standards.

They seem to be doing their jobs so I don't understand the bashing going on here on TV. It seems most is out of ignorance.

As they reported elsewhere it can take up to 90 days for this stuff to concentrate into the food chain.

[Halion]

To believe a single word they say would require you to be criminally insane. These clowns simply make it up as they go along.

Using routing monitoring as a base line would give a clear indication of any increase in contamination.

PTT screwed up big time and lied about the volume. Spill control response was amature and a farce. Serious over concentration of chemical dispersing agents. Numerous contradictory reports from various agencies. Poor reporting and journalistic investigation. It just goes on and on and on with little semblance of truth. TIT

[dudu]

Why is it every time they say its safe, or we have it under control, the opposite happens? very predictable and fed to a gullible audience every time.

[oops]

And don't forget to take in lungfulls of nice Bangkok air with your Rayong fish and sprayed rice. I cannot find an active air quality index reading for anywhere in this area. What we don't know will not hurt us, I guess.

That's not true. Now scientist believe that if you live by the rule " what we don't know won't hurt us" now causes cancer. That; with the fact that everything we do know about,also causes cancer. Bottom line is, I'd be happy to eat that seafood that are at eatable levels of arsenic,lead and other toxins,because that seems be the only thing that doesn't cause cancer, who knows maybe it's the lead that kills the cancer and the arsenic that kills the lead, I mean; they did say it was at levels that were standard and they didn't give any warnings to us that too much could cause cancer so dish me up some.

[DekDaeng]

"Why is it every time they say its safe, or we have it under control, the opposite happens?"

Yes, I am from the goverment so what comes out of my mouth is the absolute truth.

& if it is not, refer to rule # 1.

[rametindallas]

http://www.fao.org/docrep/field/003/AB751E/AB751E09.gif

The link above is to a sea current map of the Gulf of Thailand. From where the spill occurred, It seems only a matter of time before the oil and chemical dispersants are evenly distributed over the entire Gulf. Every seafood in the entire Gulf may be compromised and not to be trusted. This is catastrophic for the consumer and the fishing industry. It seems the government is trying to downplay the damage and current and future danger of ingesting contaminates along with your seafood. Nothing to be done now but avoid Gulf seafood for the next six to sixty months.

[rametindallas]

So the title "Oil residues found in..." is complete rubbish. And all they found were trace amounts of dangerous chemicals, which they would quite naturally be looking for when testing any samples. They will have to run specific individual tests to look for certain elements, such as Mercury. Its not as simple as testing a sample and seeing whats in it, it doesn't work that way.

While we have no idea what the actual levels were we have to assume they were as stated, below certain acceptable international standards.

They seem to be doing their jobs so I don't understand the bashing going on here on TV. It seems most is out of ignorance.

As they reported elsewhere it can take up to 90 days for this stuff to concentrate into the food chain.

Yes, and the contaminated seafood can carry the contaminates in their bodies for years waiting to be caught and fed to people. The Gulf of Thailand does not 'flush' easily like the Gulf of Mexico. It is more like the Mediterranean Sea. These contaminates will be around for years.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

And of course, absolutely no mention of how high the level of contamination was.

Is it normal? Or did it miss breaking the limit by 1 ppm? Bearing in mind, that the plankton that will eat this stuff, will be consumed by the food chain, and as such it concentrates the levels the higher up the chain you go over time. It's been a week or so, give it another week, and the levels will probably have risen.

Something tells me, the same folks doing and reporting the health testing here for the Rayong area seafood are probably the same ones who handled the testing and reporting for the surplus rice stocks... And we all know how that one turned out.

I always get nervous when government types here show up in the newspapers saying they've tested and everything in safe....but those reports rarely seem to say what exactly the contamination levels were...and how those results compare to the applicable safety standards.

No Thai seafood for me... I'm going to stick to a rice-only diet... Ooopsss...

[NeverSure]

I missed the part where they reported how much raw human sh1t they found in the seafood.

[anotheruser]

I am absolutely shocked that residues were found when tested near an oil slick! I thought it had been cleaned up a week ago?

[noitom]

Amazing how the press ignores tracking down the PTT Global Chemical company for comments, explanations, apologies. As Butch Cassidy would say, who are those guys anyway?

[chooka]

No, no, no there is nothing wrong and I know because an official told me as he was tucking into seafood in full view of the media.

Oh what's that and keep it quiet, he wasn't eating local seafood. Got it !

Exactly the same spin as the contaminated rice. Cover ups and lies to save the baht and face. I am glad I don't like seafood.

[mrfill]

Does oil normally contain mercury, lead and arsenic?

[ajarnpot]

Does any one know how I can be reimbursed for the holiday I was about to go on to samet?

its cheap to drive down to the ferry and hop to samet, how am I going to get compensation?

[NongKhaiKid]

And of course, absolutely no mention of how high the level of contamination was.

Is it normal? Or did it miss breaking the limit by 1 ppm? Bearing in mind, that the plankton that will eat this stuff, will be consumed by the food chain, and as such it concentrates the levels the higher up the chain you go over time. It's been a week or so, give it another week, and the levels will probably have risen.

Something tells me, the same folks doing and reporting the health testing here for the Rayong area seafood are probably the same ones who handled the testing and reporting for the surplus rice stocks... And we all know how that one turned out.

I always get nervous when government types here show up in the newspapers saying they've tested and everything in safe....but those reports rarely seem to say what exactly the contamination levels were...and how those results compare to the applicable safety standards.

No Thai seafood for me... I'm going to stick to a rice-only diet... Ooopsss...

In all the years I've been involved with Thailand and the changes seen one thing has remained constant and that is the attitude of officialdom at all levels who expect everything they say to be taken as the absolute truth, don't doubt me and definitely do not challenge .

As is regularly said in so many different threads the media falls far short of doing anything like a decent job to take this sort of thing on, no real criticism and no investigative journalism.

[chooka]

And of course, absolutely no mention of how high the level of contamination was.

Is it normal? Or did it miss breaking the limit by 1 ppm? Bearing in mind, that the plankton that will eat this stuff, will be consumed by the food chain, and as such it concentrates the levels the higher up the chain you go over time. It's been a week or so, give it another week, and the levels will probably have risen.

Something tells me, the same folks doing and reporting the health testing here for the Rayong area seafood are probably the same ones who handled the testing and reporting for the surplus rice stocks... And we all know how that one turned out.

I always get nervous when government types here show up in the newspapers saying they've tested and everything in safe....but those reports rarely seem to say what exactly the contamination levels were...and how those results compare to the applicable safety standards.

No Thai seafood for me... I'm going to stick to a rice-only diet... Ooopsss...

In all the years I've been involved with Thailand and the changes seen one thing has remained constant and that is the attitude of officialdom at all levels who expect everything they say to be taken as the absolute truth, don't doubt me and definitely do not challenge .

As is regularly said in so many different threads the media falls far short of doing anything like a decent job to take this sort of thing on, no real criticism and no investigative journalism.

The problem is the defamation laws in Thailand are used as a powerful tool to stop people investigating and gag them.

[NongKhaiKid]

And of course, absolutely no mention of how high the level of contamination was.

Is it normal? Or did it miss breaking the limit by 1 ppm? Bearing in mind, that the plankton that will eat this stuff, will be consumed by the food chain, and as such it concentrates the levels the higher up the chain you go over time. It's been a week or so, give it another week, and the levels will probably have risen.

Something tells me, the same folks doing and reporting the health testing here for the Rayong area seafood are probably the same ones who handled the testing and reporting for the surplus rice stocks... And we all know how that one turned out.

I always get nervous when government types here show up in the newspapers saying they've tested and everything in safe....but those reports rarely seem to say what exactly the contamination levels were...and how those results compare to the applicable safety standards.

No Thai seafood for me... I'm going to stick to a rice-only diet... Ooopsss...

In all the years I've been involved with Thailand and the changes seen one thing has remained constant and that is the attitude of officialdom at all levels who expect everything they say to be taken as the absolute truth, don't doubt me and definitely do not challenge .

As is regularly said in so many different threads the media falls far short of doing anything like a decent job to take this sort of thing on, no real criticism and no investigative journalism.

The problem is the defamation laws in Thailand are used as a powerful tool to stop people investigating and gag them.

Yes that's an excellent point.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The problem is the defamation laws in Thailand are used as a powerful tool to stop people investigating and gag them.

That's certainly true...at least when the issue is about people who can be defamed.

But in this case, we're talking about the safety/quality of seafood...not even anything about a particular company or individual.

So even in Thailand, I don't think a reporter could get into legal trouble by asking...what were the results of the government seafood tests, and what are the relevant government safety levels for any contaminants found.

AFAIK, even in Thailand, a fish still can't be defamed or file a criminal complaint with the police. But it wouldn't surprise me any if the authorities aren't currently hard at work to close that glaring loophole.

[Thai at Heart]

The problem is the defamation laws in Thailand are used as a powerful tool to stop people investigating and gag them.

That's certainly true...at least when the issue is about people who can be defamed.

But in this case, we're talking about the safety/quality of seafood...not even anything about a particular company or individual.

So even in Thailand, I don't think a reporter could get into legal trouble by asking...what were the results of the government seafood tests, and what are the relevant government safety levels for any contaminants found.

AFAIK, even in Thailand, a fish still can't be defamed or file a criminal complaint with the police. But it wouldn't surprise me any if the authorities aren't currently hard at work to close that glaring loophole.

Ask the guy who claimed Thai rice was contaminated, which it was, but within international limit causing cp to land him with a defamation suit.