How can I reduce my exposure to DDT and PCBs? I heard that they are still in our environment even though they were banned decades ago.

Unless you live near an industrial or agricultural site contaminated with PCBs or DDT, your greatest source of exposure to these chemicals is probably from food. To reduce levels of PCBs and DDT in your diet, cut back on animal fats and be selective about the fish you eat:

• Make your meat lean: choose lean cuts of meat. Cut off visible fat before cooking meat and choose lower-fat cooking methods: broiling, grilling, roasting, or pressure-cooking. Avoid frying meat in lard, bacon grease, or butter.

• Limit dairy fat: choose low-fat products.

• Choose fish carefully: check with state advisories before eating sport-caught fish or shellfish, which are often high in PCBs and DDT. Commercial fish that are high in PCBs include Atlantic or farmed salmon, bluefish, wild striped bass, white and Atlantic croaker, blackback or winter flounder, summer flounder, and blue crab. Commercial fish that contain higher levels of pesticides, including DDT, are bluefish, wild striped bass, American eel, and Atlantic salmon.

• When preparing fish, remove the skin, trim the fat, and broil, bake, or grill the fish so that the fat drips away; this will reduce your exposure to PCBs and other toxic chemicals that have accumulated in fatty tissue. Fish are an excellent source of nutrients including protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamin D, so don’t remove fish from your diet, but choose carefully.

For more information on safer food choices, read these tips from the Pollution in People website. For more information on DDT and PCBs, click here.