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State health officials are expanding a warning about eating fish taken from Utah's lakes and rivers. Several popular fisheries are being added to the list after traces of mercury found in some fish have reached levels considered to be unsafe.
This is not the first time the state has issued a warning about eating fish from certain fishing locations. Don't misunderstand, fish are still safe to eat, but eating too much fish that may contain elevated levels of mercury could cause a health risk in the long run.
Whether it's one of Utah's most popular water recreation areas, like Jordanelle Reservoir, or a stretch of the East Fork of the Sevier River, the state health department is issuing a new advisory for six popular fishing spots in Utah that eating fish caught here can pose a health risk.
Christina McNaughton, a toxicologist with the Utah Department of Health, said "Mercury has a tendency to be bio-accumulative in organisms, and so that is where our primary concern is. Right now the consumption of these fish, as we move up from smaller organisms to smaller fish, and then larger fish eat those smaller fish, we have a higher concentration or bio-accumulation of mercury. When those fish are consumed by humans, that's where we have the toxic effects of mercury."
For the past eight years, the state has tested 192 streams and rivers and 69 lakes and reservoirs. So far 15 have tested positive for levels of mercury considered to be high. Health officials are still trying to determine where the mercury is coming from.
"Much of it may be atmospheric. We have atmospheric disposition that occurs, and some of it may be coming from Asia and other places that don't have mercury controls on their pollution," McNaughton said.
Specifically, the list includes: Porcupine Reservoir in Cache County, Jordanelle in Wasatch County, Rock Creek in Duchesne, Sevier River in Piute, Pine Creek in Garfield and Sand Hollow in Washington County.
Adults are cautioned to limit eating two eight ounce meals of fish per month, but children and most women are advised not to eat any. "Especially the sensitive populations, such as women and in developing children, women who are pregnant, nursing mothers or women of child-bearing age need to be specifically careful because the mercury can be transferred from the mother to the child," McNaughton said.
Today's advisory is in addition to other warnings that have already been posted and some modified. Remember, though, the warnings are location-specific and involve only certain species of fish in those waterways.
E-mail: spenrod@ksl.com
E-mail: rjeppesen@ksl.com
