Warning Not To Eat Too Many Seabird Eggs

Tests done on the eggs of murres show very high levels of PCBs “and related chemicals”.

RÚV reports that there are up to ten times the amount of such chemicals in the eggs of murres (known as the svartfugl in Icelandic) as there are in hen’s eggs. At this time of year, many Icelanders enjoy buying these eggs or even harvesting them from nests for eating.

Hrönn Ólína Jörundsdóttir, an environmental engineer for food and biotech research company Matís, told reporters that they have conducted research on the eggs, leading to the conclusion that many of them have “persistent organic contaminants such as PCB and related chemicals.”

Hrönn advises that women of child-bearing in age in particular should be careful not to eat too many of these eggs, as PCBs are stored in the body, and can be passed on to the child. “To eat maybe one egg a year is probably not something that will be very damaging, but people should be aware of the risks,” she said.