The lawsuit names eight makers and sellers of fish oil, shark oil, fish liver oil and shark liver oil supplements that have PCB contamination above the so-called "safe harbor" limits set for human PCB consumption under California's Proposition 65. That law requires consumers to be warned about such exposures.
"While looking at the industrial fishing operations of controversial Omega Protein, we found that the industry seems very aware that fish oil supplements can be high in PCBs," said Chris Manthey, one of the plaintiffs. "That's why many of them say their supplements have been 'treated' to remove or reduce PCBs," he said. "But since they don't say how much PCB contamination is still left, even consumers who choose 'treated' supplements can't know what PCB levels they're swallowing along with their daily omega-3."
"The industry knows very well about the PCB problem in fish oils and widely markets its supplements as already treated for PCB contamination," said Benson Chiles, also a plaintiff in the case. "They have no excuse for what we've been finding."
The initial defendants named, in alphabetical order, are: CVS Pharmacy, Inc.; General Nutrition Corp. (GNC); Now Health Group, Inc.; Omega Protein, Inc.; Pharmavite LLC (Nature Made brand); Rite Aid Corp.; Solgar, Inc.; and TwinLab Corp.Plaintiffs are conducting more tests and expect to add other companies to the legal action, if and when test results of their fish oil products show levels of PCB contamination that should have been warned about under California law.
PCBs were officially listed as known carcinogens and known reproductive toxins in California two decades ago, making them subject to the state's warning requirement. The brand name products and test results that prompted the lawsuit are shown in the charts below, both as total daily exposure to PCBs and "toxicity-weighted" exposure.