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People in the north of Norway have been warned by the country’s food safety
agency to cut back on eating seagull eggs because they are contaminated with
high levels of toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The eggs are considered a
delicacy in Tromsø and the Lofoten Islands. Some people eat up to 40 a year, but
Norway’s National Food Control Agency now says that eating more than 10 a year
could endanger people’s health. PCBs are known to damage the immune and
reproductive systems of mammals. They were used as insulators in electrical
equipment and in the production of pesticides, lubricants and plastics. Though
their use is now banned, they remain widespread in the environment.