 "The advisories are not
meant to discourage people from eating fish, but should be used as a
guideline to help anglers and their families decide the types of
fish to eat and how to prepare fish for cooking to reduce possible
contaminants," said Dr. Damon T. Arnold, state public health
director. "Fish can be an important part of a balanced diet. It is a
good source of high-quality protein and other nutrients and is low
in fat. However, contaminants in fish may make some fish unsafe to
eat except in limited quantities, particularly for women of
childbearing age and young children."While there is no known
immediate health threat from eating contaminated fish from any body
of water in Illinois, there are concerns about the effects of
long-term, low-level exposure to pesticides and chemicals such as
chlordane, methylmercury and polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs,
found in fish listed on the advisories. Methylmercury has been found
to cause reproductive damage and have adverse effects on the central
nervous system, including developmental delays.
The advisories are based primarily on protecting sensitive
populations, including women of childbearing age, pregnant women,
fetuses, nursing mothers and children younger than 15 years of age.
The advisories may be overprotective for women beyond childbearing
age and men older than 15.
This year's changes to the
advisories include:
-
Because of elevated
levels of methylmercury, largemouth bass larger than 19 inches
from Evergreen Lake in McLean County should be limited to
one meal per month for sensitive populations and one meal per
week for all others.
-
Because of elevated
levels of methylmercury, all sizes of largemouth bass from
Mount Olive New City Lake in Macoupin County should be
limited to one meal per month for sensitive populations and one
meal per week for all others.
The remainder of the consumption advisories are unchanged from
last year. The statewide mercury advisory cautions sensitive
populations to eat no more than one meal per week of predator fish,
which pose a greater risk because they feed on other fish and
accumulate higher amounts of methylmercury. Predator fish include
all species of black bass (largemouth, smallmouth and spotted),
striped bass, white bass, hybrid striped bass, flathead catfish,
muskellunge, northern pike, saugeye, sauger and walleye.
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Women beyond childbearing age and males older than 15 years of
age can eat as many meals of predator fish as they please with the
exception of fish caught from the 17 bodies of water that are on the
special mercury advisory and have more restrictive meal advice
because of high levels of methylmercury. These are Arrowhead Lake,
Campus Lake at Southern Illinois University, Cedar Lake (Jackson
County), Devil's Kitchen Lake, Evergreen Lake, Kinkaid Lake, Lake
Bracken, Lake in the Hills, Little Grassy Lake, Little Wabash River
and tributaries, Marquette Park Lagoon, Midlothian Reservoir, Monee
Reservoir, Mount Olive New City Lake, Ohio River, Rock River (from
Rockford to Milan Steel Dam), and Wabash River.
Mercury occurs naturally in the environment, and it can be
released into the air through industrial pollution, including
coal-burning power plants. When it falls into surface water,
bacteria in the water cause chemical changes that transform the
mercury into methylmercury, which is then taken up by fish as they
feed on aquatic organisms.
For fish that may contain PCBs and chlordane, the advisory
provides eating advice in five categories -- unlimited consumption,
no more than one meal per week, no more than one meal per month, no
more than six meals per year and do not eat.
Anglers who vary the type and source of sport fish consumed --
opting for the younger, smaller fish and consuming leaner species
such as walleye and panfish over fatty species such as carp and
catfish, and who prepare and cook fish in ways that reduce the
amount of contaminants -- can limit their exposure to harmful
substances that may be found in fish.
There are several ways to reduce any
PCBs and chlordane present in edible portions of fish:
-
Before cooking,
remove the skin from the fillet and cut away any fatty tissue
from the belly and dorsal areas.
-
Broil, bake or
grill in a way that allows fat to drip away.
-
Discard fat drippings or broth from
broiled or poached fish. Do not use in other dishes.
These precautions will not reduce the amount of methylmercury in
fish. Mercury is found throughout the fish's muscle tissue (the
edible part of the fish) rather than in the fat and skin. Therefore,
the only way to reduce mercury intake is to reduce the amount of
contaminated fish eaten.
The Illinois Fish Contaminant Monitoring Program screens fish
samples from about 40 bodies of water per year for contamination
from 13 banned pesticides and industrial chemicals. The program is a
joint effort of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the
departments of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Public Health.
The fish are collected by the Department of Natural Resources and
tested by the Illinois EPA. The Department of Public Health bases
its consumption advisories on the Illinois EPA test results. This
year's
advisories can be viewed at
www.idph.state.il.us and
are included in the 2008
Illinois Fishing
Information Guide, which is available from the Department of
Natural Resources and from businesses that sell state fishing
licenses and can also be viewed at
www.dnr.state.il.us.
[To download Adobe Acrobat Reader for the PDF
file of advisories, click here.]
[Text from
Illinois
Department of Public Health file received from the
Illinois Office of Communication and Information]
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