Recent Advisory News

• New Hampshire Revises Statewide Advisory - In September the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services released an updated version of the state's advisory listing. According to the press release, the updated statewide advisory is "based on the test results of approximately 1000 freshwater fish sampled from 139 freshwater bodies that show most of the fish throughout the State of New Hampshire are contaminated with varying levels of mercury." The statewide freshwater advisory recommends that pregnant or nursing women, women who may become pregnant, and children under 7 eat only 1 meal per month of fish caught in freshwaters of the state. All other people are advised to eat no more than 4 meals per month of freshwater fish, unless there is more restrictive advice for the particular species listed in the advisory brochure. The updated statewide advisory for coastal waters includes the FDA commercial advice and additional advice on consumption of canned tuna for pregnant or nursing women, women who may become pregnant, and children under 7. The coastal advisory lists the amounts and types of fish which are safe to consume for each segment of the population.

  Read the revised New Hampshire advisory.

Current Events, News and Journal Articles

• Predicting Mercury Levels in Yellow Perch - Recent research suggests that wetland abundance surrounding lakes, fish trophic position, and fish community composition can influence the bioavailability of mercury to fish. To study the importance of these spatial and biological factors to chemical factors known to influence bioavailability, the authors determined the relationship between 24 lake traits and mercury residues of whole fish samples of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) from 43 northern Wisconsin lakes. Independent variables that were studied included biological traits such as fish trophic position and body condition, spatial traits such as lake hydrologic position and surrounding wetland abundance, and chemical traits such as pH and water color. The strongest predictor of fish tissue mercury level was lake water pH (R2=0.42; p<0.002). Fish body condition explained significant additional variation (final R2=0.54; p=0.024). Regression tree models indicated that small lakes with more than 6% wetland in their watersheds have moderately elevated fish mercury levels. The study results indicate that fish growth patterns and within-lake chemistry are stronger correlates of mercury concentrations in yellow perch than spatial traits, trophic position, or fish community attributes.

  Source: Greenfield, Ben K; Hrabik, Thomas R; Harvey, Chris J; Carpenter, Stephen R Predicting mercury levels in yellow perch: Use of water chemistry, trophic ecology, and spatial traits. 2001. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Vol 58(7): pp. 1419-1429

• PCBs and neurodevelopmental effects in Michigan children - Despite the fact that PCB levels in the environment have generally continued to decline over the past 10 years, concern for potential neurodevelopmental deficits resulting from in utero exposure to PCBs remains unabated. Some regulatory and scientific bodies have concluded that evidence suggesting that prenatal PCB exposure may lead to neurodevelopmental deficits is one of the major public health concerns surrounding PCBs. The principal basis for the concern that low-level in utero exposure to PCBs causes neurodevelopmental deficits in children is a series of reports on a cohort of Michigan children presumably exposed to PCBs as a result of their mothers' consumption of Great Lakes fish. This group of children, known as the Jacobson cohort, have been followed from birth to 11 years of age. The researchers studying these children concluded that they have demonstrated persistent neurodevelopmental effects in this cohort attributable solely to PCBs. Analysis of the cohort's exposure characterization reveals significant uncertainty as to the actual exposure status of mothers characterized as "fish eaters" and their offspring. Failure to definitely characterize the PCB exposure of these fish-eating mothers or their children precludes any causal association between in utero PCB exposure and neurodevelopmental deficits.

  Source: Schell, John D Jr; Budinsky, Robert A; Wernke, Michael J. 2001. PCBs and neurodevelopmental effects in Michigan children: An evaluation of exposure and dose characterization. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology Vol 33(3): pp. 300-312.

• Analysis of Native American and recreational fishers for overexposure to mercury - Researchers examined fish consumption rates of three Native American populations and two recreational fishing populations. These consumption rates were combined with fish contamination data to assess the level of exposure to methylmercury and to determine if any of these populations exceed a derived tolerable daily intake (TDI) for methylmercury (0.035 to 0.08 microg/kg/day). Results indicate that many individuals from the Native American populations exceed the TDI. This occurs even though mercury concentrations in certain fish species are comparable to concentrations in fish from areas where "background" levels of mercury are assumed. Recreational anglers consuming freshwater species have exposure levels below the TDI as do nearly all anglers consuming saltwater species. This paper also discusses the public health implications of this exposure analysis.

  Source: Marien K; Patrick GM. 2001. Exposure analysis of five fish-consuming populations for overexposure to methylmercury. Journal of exposure analysis and environmental epidemiology Vol. 11 (3) p193-206.

• Determining selected organic contaminants in fish tissue - The authors report on progress toward development of a protocol for the determination of a broad spectrum of organic compounds in fish tissue samples. Finely ground and homogenized fish tissue samples were Soxhlet extracted and phenolic compounds in the extracts were acetylated. The derivatized extract containing the acetates and neutral semi-volatile compounds was cleaned up with silica gel and size-exclusion column chromatography. The semi-volatile organic compounds were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Authors evaluated the method for recovery and precision of selected analytes during the analysis of over 300 fish tissue samples of varying species in support of contaminant determination in fish tissue from the Columbia/Snake River watershed.

  Source: Araki, R.Y.; Dodo, G.H.; Reimer, S.H.; Knight, M.M. 2001. Protocol for the determination of selected organic contaminants in fish tissue. Journal of chromatography 923(1-2): pp. 177-185

• Scientists Say Great Lakes are "Cleaning Themselves" - American and Canadian scientists with the Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network (IADN) have discovered that significant amounts of PCBs and pesticides are being released into the atmosphere from the Great Lakes. From 1992 to 1996, Lake Ontario lost 2 tons of PCBs and a significant amount of dieldrin to the atmosphere. The scientists say that as levels of the contaminants in the air have dropped due to decreased production, larger amounts of pollutants have been able to volatalize from the lakes into the air. The same group would like to conduct similar studies in Arctic areas where wildlife such as polar bears are known to contain high levels of these contaminants.

  Source: Leslie Wroughton. Scientists Say Great Lakes are Cleansing Themselves. Reuters and Environmental News Network 10/03/2001.

• Effects of dredging and remediation on PAH levels in bullhead - The authors studied the effects of dredging to remove PAH-contaminated sediments from the Black River, and of source reduction from closing of a coking plant on the Cuyahoga River, Ohio. PAH in bullheads from the polluted rivers and the protected Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Sanctuary (a reference site) were compared during, immediately after, and several years after remediation of the coking plant. In bullheads from the Black River, PAH-bile metabolite levels still were elevated a year after dredging, but were significantly lower in later years. PAH metabolite concentrations in Cuyahoga River bullheads declined significantly, possibly in response to the coking plant shutdown. Reference stream fish from had consistently lower metabolite levels than fish from the polluted rivers on all sampling dates. The PAH-bile metabolite was an effective indicator for comparing exposures among sites and over time. Remediation of contaminated sediments and source reduction activities likely lowered exposures.

  Source: Lin, Edith L. C. (EPA, Cincinnati); Neiheisel, Timothy W.; Flotemersch, Joseph; Subramanian, Bhagya; Williams, Daniel E.; Millward, Michael R.; Cormier, Susan M. 2001. Historical Monitoring of Biomarkers of PAH Exposure of Brown Bullhead in the Remediated Black River and the Cuyahoga River, Ohio. Journal of Great Lakes Research 27(2): pp. 191-198

• Treaty Fishing Rights and Habitat Protection and Restoration - The author argues that U.S. courts must recognize that Native American tribes' right to harvest fish, in accord with established treaties, includes the right to habitat protection and prohibits habitat degradation that might significantly interfere with utilization of the fishery resource. Recognition of treaty-habitat protection rights and the corresponding ability to bring monetary claims for habitat degradation would raise awareness of the losses that tribes face if the fishery resource is allowed to disappear. An alternative remedy might be in the right of tribes to compel fish habitat enhancement and restoration if damages to fisheries occurred.

  Source: Perron, Brian J. When Tribal Treaty Fishing Rights Become a Mere Opportunity to Dip One's Net into the Water and Pull It Out Empty: The Case for Money Damages When Treaty-Reserved Fish Habitat is Degraded. William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review Spring 01 Vol 25(3): pp. 783-836

• Ethnic differences in risk from mercury among Savannah River fishermen A new study examines the ethnic differences in risk among people consuming fish contaminated with mercury from the Savannah River in South Carolina and Georgia. The comparison of risk was based on site-specific consumption patterns and analysis of mercury levels in fish. The researchers found that there were significant differences in mercury levels among different species of fish, and that there were ethnic differences in consumption patterns. Overall, Blacks consumed more fish and had higher Hazard Indexes (HI) than Whites. Almost half of the Black fishermen were eating enough Savannah River fish to exceed a Hazard Index of 1. Among different fish species sampled, over 80% of bowfin, 38% of bass, and 21% of pickerel exceeded 0.5 ppm mercury.

  Source: Burger, J; Gaines, KF; Gochfeld, M. 2001. Ethnic differences in risk from mercury among Savannah River fishermen. Risk Analysis Vol. 21(3), p533-44.

• Infecundity and consumption of PCB-contaminated fish - The biologic capacity for reproduction (fecundity) may be threatened by environmental contaminants, especially compounds capable of disrupting endocrine pathways. Telephone interviews were conducted that focused on reproductive events among female members of the New York State Angler Cohort Study who became pregnant between 1991 and 1993 and who reported known time to pregnancy (N=895; 73%). Consumption of PCB-contaminated Lake Ontario sportfish and other factors were studied in 1991. The authors classified the women as follows: (a) fecund (n = 723); (b) having resolved infecundity (n = 81); or (c) having unresolved infecundity (n = 94). The adjusted odds ratios for duration of fish consumption for both resolved and unresolved infecundity were elevated (1.46 and 1.19, respectively), although confidence intervals included unity. The frequency of recent fish consumption was associated with an increased risk for select categories, although confidence intervals included one.

  Source: McGuinness, BM; Buck, GM; Mendola, P; Sever, LE; Vena, JE. 2001. Infecundity and consumption of polychlorinated biphenyl-contaminated fish. Archives of Environmental Health Vol. 56(3):250-253.

• Comparison of fish tissue contaminants from oxbows along the U.S.-Mexico border - Little information is currently available on contaminants and their impacts on biota of resacas (oxbows) along the US-Mexico border. In 1996, fish were collected from four resacas in the Texas-Tamaulipas border region to assess contaminant concentrations and their impacts on fish and birds. Of the organochlorine insecticides measured, DDE was the most common and was present at relatively high concentrations (10 ppm wet weight) at some sites. DDE concentrations were almost 20 times higher in fish from resacas in Texas than from resacas in Tamaulipas, although the limited sample sizes obtained precluded statistical comparisons. Fish DDE concentrations from the two Texas resacas were also higher than those reported in fish from nearby areas during the 1980s and 1990s. In general, trace element concentrations were similar among resacas in Texas and Tamaulipas. Arsenic concentrations, however, were two to six times higher in fish from a downtown resaca in Matamoros than in fish from other resacas in Tamaulipas and Texas. The author concluded that some resacas on US-Mexico border region are contaminant sinks and could pose potential health or reproductive problems for fish and wildlife, and humans that consume fish from those sites.

  Source: Mora MA; Papoulias D; Nava I; Buckler DR. 2001. Comparative assessment of contaminants in fish from four resacas of the Texas, USA-Tamaulipas, Mexico border region. Environment International; 27(1):15-20A

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For More Information

For more information on EPA's Fish and Wildlife Contamination Program, contact: Jeffrey Bigler at US EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW (4305), Washington, DC 20460; email: bigler.jeff@epa.gov.