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 Federal /State network for both collecting data and formulating 

 strategy on chemical contaminants. 



FDA is developing "guidance documents" to States on chemical 

 contaminants. The first four to be developed relate to 

 cadmium, nickel, arsenic, and chromium. Several others are 

 under development. The purpose of these documents is to 

 provide relevant scientific information on each contaminant so 

 that States and localities can evaluate the public health 

 significance of contamination of local and regional waters with 

 those chemicals and determine for themselves when closures or 

 public health advisories might be appropriate. We have chosen 

 this approach for the time being in lieu of establishing a 

 single, national tolerance for each contaminant that may or may 

 not be appropriate or useful to deal with regional or local 

 contamination issues. Local authorities can utilize the 

 information in the guidance documents and combine it with local 

 information on the level of contamination found locally and 

 local consumption patterns to establish risk management 

 approaches. FDA will monitor the success of this approach. 



One conclusion drawn by the HAS was that there is a lack of 

 understanding of the nature of seafood hazards by the consuming 

 public and that a vigorous information and education campaign 



