High Cancer Rates Found in Md. Catfish

Wed Jan 25, 8:04 PM ET

More than half of one species of catfish sampled in the South River had skin tumors, matching the highest rate in the nation, wildlife officials said.

The skin tumor rate of brown bullhead catfish from the South River matched that of brown bullheads taken from the Great Lakes, which had the nation's highest rate. One fifth of the South River bullheads also had liver cancer, second only to the rate found in the Anacostia River in 2001, where nearly 70 percent had liver tumors, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife study released Tuesday.

"The fish are clearly exposed to cancer-causing agents, and at this point, we really don't know what chemicals are responsible," Fred Pinkney, the Fish and Wildlife Service biologist who conducted the study, told The Washington Post. "We suspect it's from (polluted) runoff."