Chicken eggs from Cavite b’gay have high levels of toxins

Bad eggs.

This appeared to be the case of chicken eggs from a barangay in Trece Martirez, Cavite after a study found them with high levels of toxins dangerous to human health.

The Ecological Waste Coalition (EcoWaste Coalition) released the report on the toxicity of chicken eggs from Barangay Aguado yesterday in time for the celebration of World Earth Day today.

The coalition did so to call the attention of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to the immediate implementation of the treaty ratified during the Stockholm Convention in February 2004 on the elimination of persistent organic pollutants (POPs).

According to the study, chicken eggs collected from Barangay Aguado had levels of dioxins exceeding the European Union (EU) limit by more than three-fold.

The chicken eggs were also found to have high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

According to the study, the measured level of dioxin in eggs collected from the community was 9.68 pictogram per gram of fat (pg/g), and the level of PCBs, 3.20 pg/g of fat. These compared to the limits of 3 pg/g for dioxin, and 2 pg/g for PCBs.

The coalition said the levels of seven PCB congeners in the eggs did not exceed regulatory limits, but were the seventh highest observed among the 20 samples analyzed in the International POPs Elimination Network’s (IPEN) global biomonitoring project covering 18 countries.

The eggs were also analyzed for some brominated flame retardants and chemicals resembling PCBs that are strong candidates for addition to the Stockholm Convention treaty.

The study said the chicken eggs from Barangay Aguado had high levels of these compounds, although the eggs were observed to have low hexachlorobenzene (HCB).

The free-range chicken eggs were collected from three sites near the medical waste incinerator in Barangay Aguado on Jan. 24, 2004.

Six eggs were collected within a .5-kilometer distance from the controversial thermal oxidizer plant operated by the Integrated Waste Management Inc. These eggs were brought to the Czech Republic for laboratory tests.

The IWMI incinerator is a "pyrolytic waste oxidizer" from Canada-based EcoWaste Solutions Inc., which has a capacity of 10 tons per day.

It treats biomedical wastes from hospitals in Metro Manila. It also accepts and burns illegal drugs such as amphetamines seized by the government.

The EcoWaste Coalition said this study represents the first data about "unintentional POPs" in chicken eggs from the Philippines.

"Comparing the dioxin congener pattern from eggs collected in Barangay Aguado with data measured from different kinds of sources from other countries indicates that medical waste incineration (including fly ash and air releases) is the likely source of the dioxins found in the eggs," the study said.

Aguado is a community of 3,756 people, with a total land area of about 2.36 hectares. Many of its 800 households are informal settlers.