- Full (HTML) - PubMed:Related Articles - PubMed:Citation - Cited in PMC - Purchase This Issue

John Tilden, ¹ Lawrence P. Hanrahan, ² Henry Anderson, ² Charles Palit, ³ Joseph Olson, ² William Mac Kenzie, ¹ and the Great Lakes Sport Fish Consortium

¹ Epidemic Intelligence Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta GA 30333 USA
² Bureau of Public Health, Wisconsin Division of Health, Madison, WI 53703 USA
³ Wisconsin Survey Research Laboratory, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53703 USA

Abstract
Nationwide, 45 states issue health advisories for sport fish consumers. Chemical contaminants in some Great Lakes (GL) sport fish include compounds suspected of causing adverse reproductive and developmental effects. Although advisories to reduce consumption of contaminated fish, especially by women, have been issued by GL states (i.e., Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) since the mid-1970s, little is known about advisory awareness and GL sport fish consumption in the general population. To estimate the prevalence of GL sport fish consumption and health advisory awareness, we conducted a population-based telephone survey of 8,306 adult residents of the eight GL states. We gathered information concerning respondents' demographic characteristics, fish consumption during the preceding year, and sport fish consumption advisory awareness. The survey response rate was 69%. GL sport fish were eaten during the preceding year by 8.4% [95% confidence interval (CI) , 7.6-9.2] of adults in the GL states, approximately 4.7 million persons. Women accounted for 43.9% (CI, 39.4-48.4) of consumers. Although 49.9% of GL sport fish consumers were aware of a health advisory, awareness varied significantly by sex: 58.2% (CI, 51.7-64.7) of males and 39.1% (CI, 32.6-45.6) of females were aware. Using logistic regression, we found awareness associated with male sex [odds ratio (OR) = 2.3 ; CI, 1.5-3.5) , white race (OR = 4.2 ; CI, 1.9-9.1) , college degree (OR = 3.1 ; CI, 1.3-7.6) , and consuming 24 GL sport fish meals/year (OR = 2.4 ; CI, 1.4-4.3) . Only half of GL sport fish consumers reported awareness of a health advisory concerning eating GL sport fish. Awareness was especially low among women, suggesting the need of targeted risk communication programs for female consumers. Key words : compliance, Great Lakes, health advisories, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, PCBs, population-based random-digit-dial survey, risk communication, sport fish consumption, Wisconsin. Environ Health Perspect 105:1360-1365 (1997) .

Address correspondence to L.P. Hanrahan, Bureau of Public Health, Wisconsin Division of Health, Room 138, 1414 E. Washington Avenue, Madison, WI 53703 USA.

The Great Lakes Sport Fish Consortium includes James Boddy, Marvin Budd, Mandy Burkett, Claire Falk, Beth Fiore, Grace Lee, Bob Johnson, Marty Kanarek, Susan Monaghan, Dan Reed, Tracy Shelley, William Sonzogni, Greg Steele, and Dollis Wright.

This work is a result of research sponsored by the U.S. Public Health Service, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry under grant 75/ATH598322-03.

Received 11 February 1997, accepted 2 September 1997.