Fish advisories

USEPA] US Enviromnental Protection Agency. 2004a. Fact Sheet — National Listing of Fish Advisories. Office ofWaterEPA-823-F-04-016 August 2004. URL http //www. epa.gov/waterscience/flsh/advisories/ factsheetpdf... 

USEPA] US Envhonmental Protection Agency. 2000. Guidance for assessing chemical contamination data for use in fish advisories. Vol. 1 Fish sampling and analysis, 3rd ed. Washington, DC USEPA Office of Water. EPA 823-B-00-007. http //www.epa.gov/ waterscience/fishadvice/volumel/index.html... 

USEPA] US Envhonmental ProtectionAgency. 2005.2004 National listing of fish advisories. Washington, DC USEPA, Office of Water. Fact Sheet EPA-823-F-05-004. 

EPA. 1995b. Guidance for assessing chemical contaminant data for use in fish advisories. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Publication No. EPA 823-R-95-007, 2nd ed., Office of Science and Technology, Office of Water, USEPA, Washington, DC. September 1995. 

Anderson HA, Amrhein JF, Shubat P, Hesse J (1993) Protocol for a uniform Great Lakes fish advisory. Great Lakes Sport Fish Advisory Task Force... 

US Environmental Protection Agency (1999) Toxaphene update Impact on fish advisories. EPA823-F-99-018. US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC, p 6... 

United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA). Mercury update impact on fish advisories. 2001. Office of Water. Grandjean P, Weihe P, White RF, Debes F, Araki S, Yokoyama K, Murata K, Sorensen N, Dahl R, Jorgensen PJ. Cognitive deficit in 7-year old children with prenatal exposure to methylmercury. Neurotoxicol.Teratol. 1997 19 417-28. 

US Environmental Protection Agency (2000a) Guidance for Assessing Chemical Contaminant Data for Use in Fish Advisories. Volume 1 Fish Sampling and Analysis, 3rd edn. Washington, DC Office of Water. 

Eor mercury, results from the 1999 US Natio nal Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), which measured mercury levels in hair and blood of US women, show that 8% of US women of childbearing age have concentrations of mercury at blood levels higher than those associated with EPA s reference dose. About 75% of the 2618 US consumption advisories listed on US EPA s 2001 National Listing of Pish and Wildlife Advisories were issued at least partly due to mercury, and lake acres and river miles under mercury advisory continued to increase in 2001, a trend since 1993. Most US advisories involve mercury, PCBs, chlordane, dioxin, and DDT, with PCBs being the second highest cause of fish advisories. 

U.S. EPA, Office of Water, Update National Listing of Fish and Wildlife Advisories, EPA-823-F-04-016, August 2004. Available at http //www.epa.gov/waterscience/fish/advisories/factsheet.pdf (accessed September 2004). 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mercury Update Impact on Fish Advisories, fact sheet, June 2001. Available at www.epa.gov/ost/fishadvice/mercupd.pdf. 

Chemicals in lakes and streams caused 46 states to issue public health warnings to avoid or curtail the eating of fish. Mercury was the cause in 60% of the cases, polychlorinated biphenyls 22%, chlordane (a banned chlorinated insecticide) 7%, DDT 2%, the remainder being spread over 25 chemicals.182 Fish advisories went up 26% from 1995 to 1996 to the point where 15% of the lakes and 5% of the rivers in the United States are now covered.183 In fairness to industry, it should be pointed out that a study by the Lindsay Museum, in Walnut Creek, California, found that 70% of the chemicals in San Francisco Bay came from the daily activities of ordinary people (e.g., oil from leaky cars, copper dust from brake pads, garden fertilizers, and pesticides).184 Nearly 50% of the oil in the world s waters comes from people carelessly discarding used oil on the ground or down drains.185 Sixty-six percent of Delaware... 

Polychlorobiphenyls are responsible for many fish advisories (which advise fishermen not to eat too much fish... 

Look up the fish advisories in your area to see how many are due to polychlorinated biphenyls and other chlorinated compounds. 

Learn about wildlife and fish advisories in your area from your public healdi or natural resources department. 

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