By Staff
Escambia County anglers have some new warnings from the state health department about the levels of mercury in fish in area bodies of water.
Concern about protecting the public from possible health exposure to mercury from eating fish led to the issuance of several new fish consumption advisories for bodies of water in Alabama, while one other advisory was removed.
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 annually updates fish consumption advisories based on data collected the preceding fall by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.
ADEM collected samples of specific fish species for analysis from various waterbodies throughout the state during the fall of 2007. The Alabama Department of Public Health 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 the Department of Public Health 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. Newly issued advisories will be represented as the safe number of meals of that 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 Food and Drug Administration guidelines remain in effect for this year (2008) and other advisories have been updated to reflect the EPA consumption levels.
New consumption advisories were issued for the 12 bodies of water, locations or species described here:
Frank Jackson Lake, Covington County
Lightwood Knot Creek, Frank Jackson Lake lake-wide, Opp
Largemouth bass
Contaminant - Mercury
Consumption level – One meal per month
Lake Jackson, Covington County
Lake Jackson located on the Alabama/Florida state line at Florala
Largemouth bass
Contaminant - Mercury
Consumption level – One meal per month
Sepulga River, Escambia County
Sepulga River upstream of Conecuh River confluence
Spotted bass
Contaminant - Mercury
Consumption level – One meal per month
A No Consumption Advisory was removed for Atlantic croaker, striped bass and speckled trout taken from the Three Mile Creek downstream from the Southern Railroad trestle to the confluence with the Mobile River in Mobile County. Sample results indicate the levels of chlordane in these fish have been below advisory levels for several sampling seasons and the fish are safe to consume.
Fish from the following sites were analyzed and found to contain no contaminants at levels that required posting of advisories. Fish from these bodies of water can be consumed with no restrictions: Alabama River (Monroe and Dallas counties); Bankhead and Holt reservoirs (Tuscaloosa County); Black Warrior Locust Fork, Village and Valley creeks (Jefferson County); Black Warrior, Mulberry Fork and Lost Creek (Walker County); Big Yellow Creek (Tuscaloosa County); Cahaba River (Bibb and Shelby counties); Demopolis Reservoir (Marengo County); Tombigbee River (Choctaw County) and Warrior Lake (Tuscaloosa County).
Fish were analyzed for up to 25 different materials including contaminants in the water (PCBs, including dioxins), pesticides (endosulfan, 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 No Consumption Advisory issued for any species is interpreted to mean that the fish sampled have been analyzed to show the presence of a contaminant in excess of advisory levels. Consumption of any fish of this type from a specific waterbody may place the consumer at risk for harm from the contaminant. If an advisory had been issued for largemouth bass and not for channel catfish or black crappie, it would be advised that individuals should eat no largemouth bass, but consumption of channel catfish or black crappie is permissible without endangering health.
The intent of a Limited Consumption Advisory is for women of childbearing age 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.
For example, the FDA tolerance level for PCBs is calculated to protect people who consume one meal of fish a month throughout their lifetime. Individuals who eat these fish more frequently or for many years place themselves at greater risk. Individuals who eat these fish only once each month or less frequently are at less risk.
PCBs are listed by EPA as “probable human carcinogens.” This listing is used for chemicals that have been found to cause cancer in laboratory animals but have not been shown to cause cancer in humans. PCBs have also been associated with a skin disorder known as chloracne as well as changes in cholesterol and triglyceride levels in human blood.
Women of childbearing age and children should not consume any of these fish on which a Limited or No Consumption Advisory exists.
The following advisories, issued in previous years, remain in effect:
Subsequent sampling and analysis render the advisories in the meal per month format.
Big Escambia Creek - Escambia County
At the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Bridge Crossing
Largemouth bass
Contaminant - Mercury
Consumption level - One meal per month
Blackwater River - Baldwin County
In the area between the mouth of the river and the pipeline crossing southeast of Robertsdale
Largemouth bass
Contaminant – Mercury
Consumption level - One meal per two months (1/2 meal per month)
Blacktail redhorse
Contaminant - Mercury
Consumption level - Two meals per month
Blackwater River - Escambia County
Between the County Road 4 bridge and the Alabama/Florida state line
Spotted bass
Contaminant - Mercury
Consumption level - One meal per month
Bon Secour River - Baldwin County
Vicinity of County Road 10 Bridge
Contaminant - Mercury
Do not consume largemouth bass
Conecuh River - Escambia County
From Alabama/Florida state line to Sepulga River including Murder Creek and Burnt Corn Creek tributaries
Contaminant – Mercury
Consumption level – Two meals per month
Cowpen Creek - Baldwin County
Upstream of confluence with Fish River
Largemouth bass
Contaminant - Mercury
Consumption level – One meal per month
Little Escambia Creek - Escambia County
In Escambia County at U.S. Highway 31/29 Bridge
Contaminant - Mercury
Consumption level – One meal per month for largemouth bass
Perdido River - Baldwin County
Near confluence with Styx River in vicinity of U.S. Highway 90 Bridge crossing
Largemouth bass
Contaminant - Mercury
Consumption level – One meal per month for largemouth bass
Two meals per month for River Redhorse
Polecat Creek - Baldwin County
Upstream of confluence with Fish River
Largemouth bass
Contaminant - Mercury
Consumption level – One meal per month
Yellow River - Covington County
At County Road 4 bridge crossing approximately 1.5 miles upstream of
Alabama/Florida line
Contaminant - Mercury
Consumption level – One meal per month for Largemouth bass