State Health Department: Local fish safe to eat

By Dawn Treglown

CENTRE — The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) has issued its annual fish consumption advisories for 2007 and it appears that, despite the lack of water in the Weiss reservoir and concerns over resulting concentrated pollution levels, fish from most of the surrounding areas are safe to eat.

Each year, the ADPH, in consultation with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM), assesses samples of fish collected throughout Alabama to determine levels of contaminants in the fish and whether they may be eaten. The ADPH also issues fish consumption advisories to help people decide whether or not to eat a specific fish from a particular body of water in Alabama.

The three primary contaminants found in fish are mercury, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) and pesticides such as chlordane and DDT.

During the fall of 2006, the ADEM collected more than 500 fish samples for analysis from various bodies of water throughout the state. The ADPH then assessed the results to determine any potential human health effects.

Beginning with the 2006 advisories, ADPH adopted a contaminant level for mercury in fish that would protect people who regularly eat more than one fish meal per week.

Mercury is a toxic metal that can cause developmental disabilities and behavior problems in children if it is consumed at high levels. Mercury occurs naturally from active volcanoes and forest fires, but it can also be released into the air through industrial pollution. Coal-burning power plants are frequently blamed for the majority of mercury air emissions.

As mercury falls from the air, it accumulates in streams, lakes, oceans and other bodies of water, where it is converted into methylmercury. Fish absorb methylmercury as they feed, and the contaminant levels build up in the fish. Methylmercury is a type of mercury that is especially harmful to young children.

Nearly all fish and shellfish contain traces of mercury. However, the risk from mercury in fish largely depends on the mercury levels of the fish and the amount of fish consumed.

Fish that live for a long time or eat other fish tend to contain more mercury than many smaller fish.

Pregnant women, women who may become pregnant, nursing mothers and young children are cautioned to avoid fish that may contain high levels of mercury, because contaminants can be transferred through the uterus or through breast milk. Adverse effects of mercury include development disabilities, heart and nervous system problems and behavior problems.

Polychlorinated biphenyl is another contaminant of concern for those who eat fish. PCBs are chemicals used for industrial purposes such as in electrical transformers.

Though banned in the United States in 1979, PCBs still accumulate in the beds of streams, lakes and other bodies of water before being consumed by fish. PCBs are a possible human carcinogen, with high levels linked to learning disabilities and problems with short-term memory.

Most samples taken from fish in Weiss Lake have detected only minor amounts of contaminants in the fish, usually PCBs.

The Cherokee County area is not listed in the ADPH 2007 fish consumption advisories. The only advisories cautioned for the Coosa River in Alabama included a limited consumption of catfish over one pound due to PCB contamination for the area between Neely Henry Dam and Riverside; limited consumption of spotted bass due to PCB contamination in the upper Lay Reservoir approximately two miles downstream of Logan Martin Dam; and an advisory to eat no striped bass due to PCB contamination in three areas of the Coosa River: between Riverside and Logan Martin Dam; between Logan Martin Dam and the railroad tracks crossing the Coosa near Vincent; and Lay Lake between Logan Martin Dam and Lay Dam.

Although local waters may contain relatively healthy fish, more information may be obtained at the Alabama Department of Public Health website at www.adph.org.