Alabama Department of Public Health Issues 2012 Fish Consumption Advisories
By: Stephen Crews
Updated: August 31, 2012
Concern
about protecting the public from possible exposure to mercury from
eating fish led to the issuance of several new fish consumption
advisories for bodies of water in Alabama.
The quality of water, based upon the levels of contaminants in fish from
the waters in Alabama, generally continues improvements made in recent
years.
The
Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) annually updates fish
consumption advisories based on data collected the preceding fall by the
Alabama Department of Environmental
Management (ADEM).
ADEM
collected samples of specific fish species for analysis from various
waterbodies throughout the state during the fall of 2011. ADPH assessed
the analytical results to determine
whether any of the tested contaminants in the fish may give rise to
potential human health effects.
Fish
consumption advisories are issued for specific waterbodies and specific
species taken from those areas. In reservoirs, advisories apply to
waters as far as a boat can be
taken upstream in a tributary, that is, to full pool elevations.
Beginning
with the 2007 advisories, ADPH adopted a contaminant level for mercury
in fish that would protect those who might consider eating more than one
fish meal per week. The
new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards are four times more
protective than Food and Drug Administration levels previously used.
After the lower, more protective limit was adopted in 2007, an
increasing number of waterbodies around the state received
advisories for mercury in fish as they were tested. Newly issued
advisories will be represented as the safe number of meals of that
species of fish that can be eaten in a given period of time, such as
meals per week, meals per month or no consumption. A meal
portion consists of 6 ounces of cooked fish or 8 ounces of raw fish.
All
advisories previously issued using FDA guidelines remain in effect for
this year (2012) and other advisories have been updated to reflect the
EPA consumption levels for mercury-contaminated
fish.
New
and updated consumption advisories issued for the 24 bodies of water,
locations or species are listed in Table 1. Previous year advisories,
which remain in effect, can be
found on the ADPH website. Last year's advisories are found in Table 2
for your convenience.
Please
note that a "no consumption" advisory for perfluoralkyl sufonate or
PFOS has been recommended for the Baker's Creek embayment of Wheeler
Reservoir. PFOS is an emerging
contaminant whose human toxicity is not well understood, nor has it been
classified as a carcinogen. However, PFOS is readily absorbed by the
digestive system and accumulates in serum, kidney and liver. It is
poorly metabolized and can stay in the body for
a long time. Animal testing has indicated potential adverse systemic
effects stemming from exposure. Additional information about PFOS can
be found at http://www.epa.gov/fedfac/pdf/emerging_contaminants_pfos_pfoa.pdf.
Future testing will determine if the advisory needs to be extended beyond the current location.
Fish
were analyzed for up to 30 different materials or types of materials,
including contaminants in the water (PCBs, including dioxins),
pesticides (endosulfan I and II, hexachlorobenzene,
chlordane, lindane, dieldrin, endrin, DDT and its breakdown products and
congeners, heptachlors, Mirex, chlorpyriphos and toxaphene), and heavy
metals (arsenic, cadmium, mercury and selenium) to which the fish may
have been exposed. In addition, fish were examined
for body appearance, lipid content, age and weight.
Fish
are good indicators of the health of a waterbody. Some contaminants
could bioaccumulate in fish. The contaminant could enter the food supply
through either crustaceans or
bottom feeding fish in a given area. These species would be eaten by
larger or more aggressive species, thereby transferring the contaminant
from the species consumed to the larger species.
The advice contained in this release and complete listings of the posted fish consumption advisories (http://www.adph.org)
are offered as guidance to individuals who wish to eat fish they catch
from various waterbodies throughout the state. No regulations ban the
consumption of any of the fish caught within the state, nor is there a
risk of an acute toxic episode that could result
from consuming any of the fish containing the contaminants for which the
state has conducted analyses.
A
fish consumption advisory can be issued for one or more specific
species of fish within a waterbody or an advisory can be extended to
include all fish species within that waterbody.
When excess levels of a contaminant are found in a specific species of
fish, an advisory is issued for that specific species. For example, if
an advisory had been issued for largemouth bass and not for channel
catfish, it would be advised that individuals should
not eat largemouth bass, but consumption of channel catfish is
permissible without endangering health.
When
excess levels of a contaminant are found in multiple fish species
sampled from a specific waterbody, a No Consumption Advisory is issued.
Consumption of any fish from a specific
waterbody under a No Consumption Advisory may place the consumer at risk
for harm from the contaminant.
If
a particular species is not listed in the advisory, it is prudent to
assume that similar species with similar feeding habits should be
consumed with caution.
In
previous years' advisories, the term "Limited Consumption" was used.
The intent of a Limited Consumption Advisory was for women of
childbearing age, pregnant women and children
(less than 15 years of age) to refrain from consumption of any fish
indicated under this advisory. All other individuals should limit their
consumption of the particular species to one meal per month. These
criteria are still being used, but in this advisory
the term Limited Consumption has been removed and replaced with specific
columns for each groups. This is the only change that has been made,
and was done in an effort to increase readability of the advisory.
