“FLINT, MI — The state has issued new warnings about eating fish from the Flint River and most of the guidelines are due to elevated levels of PFOS discovered in 2015 and 2016 testing.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services issued updated fish consumption guidelines related to the river and to Lake St. Clair on Tuesday, April 3 — part of the state’s effort to address the perfluoralkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
PFAS are described as the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality as ‘a suite of chemicals historically used in thousands of applications throughout the industrial, food, and textile industries.’
Last month, the state also issued new fish consumption advisories for lakes and rivers in three counties after tests confirmed the presence of toxic chemicals…
In its updated consumption guidelines, DHHS advised against eating carp from the Flint River, downstream of Mott Dam in Genesee County, more than once or twice a year, at most, due to higher levels of PCBs found in fish from that area of the river.
PCBs and mercury have been parts of state guidelines for fish from the river since 1993, but more than half of the new guidelines issued Tuesday for the Flint River were for PFOS.
In the river, downstream of Mott Dam, elevated levels of PFOS resulted in advisories for largemouth bass (six servings per year), rock bass (one serving per month), and smallmouth bass (six servings per year)…
In the portion of the Flint River in Saginaw County, the state advises only eating carp once or twice a year at most; rock bass once per month, and largemouth and smallmouth bass no more than six times per year.
In Lake St. Clair, advisories have been issued for 16 varieties of fish due to PCBs, mercury and PFOS. A full listing of the new guidelines are published each spring.”
Read the full article by Ron Fonger.
For more information about the guidelines, visit Michigan.gov/eatsafefish.