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ELEVATED LEVELS OF MERCURY IN SPORT-CAUGHT FISH FROM PLAT "I" RESERVOIR, DOUGLAS COUNTY February 23, 2000
Contact: Bonnie Widerburg, 503-731-4180
Technical Contacts:
Dave Stone, Environmental Specialist, 503-731-4012
Terry Westfall, Douglas County Environmental Health Services, 541-440-3571
The public is being advised today of elevated levels of mercury in the meat of fish caught in Plat "I" Reservoir east of Sutherlin in Douglas County. The advisory recommends specific limits for consumers who eat fish caught from the reservoir. It is being issued by Health Services of the Oregon Department of Human Services, in cooperation with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and Oregon Fish and Wildlife Department.
Mercury levels are sufficient to pose health concerns for persons who eat fish from the reservoir on a regular basis, according to environmental health officials at Health Services. Women of child-bearing age, pregnant and nursing women and children are especially susceptible to the effects of fish mercury. The advisory aims to prevent brain and nerve injury to growing fetuses, infants and small children, and to protect adults from injury to their nervous systems, livers and kidneys.
The advisory is based on mercury tests of edible fish samples collected in late September and early October 1999, and performed by the Department of Environmental Quality laboratory.
The average level of mercury found in fish from Plat "I" Reservoir is 0.48 parts per million (ppm). Some individual fish were found to have levels as high as 0.94 ppm. The Health Services generally issues advisories when the average mercury level in fish meat from a particular water body is 0.35 ppm or higher. The recommended guidance is calculated to protect consumers from any known harmful effects due to mercury. The recommended limits are:
- Children six years of age and younger should not eat more than one 4-ounce fish meal per month;
- Women of child-bearing age, including pregnant and breastfeeding women, should not eat more than one 8-ounce fish meal every three weeks; and
- Women past the age of child-bearing, children older than six years of age, and all other healthy adults may safely consume as much as one 8-ounce meal every five days.
The mercury in the fish is believed to be from natural mercury in the soil and rocks of the area and from mine tailings used in construction of the reservoir. Mercury leaches and erodes slowly from soil and rocks and accumulates in sediments in water bodies. Once mercury enters the food chain in the reservoir, it bioaccumulates in fish and other resident organisms. It is not expected to diminish or disappear from the reservoir. As additional test data becomes available, Health Services will update the advisory as needed.
The mercury levels in the water itself is not great enough to pose hazards to other activities. There is no reason to believe that drinking water wells in the area are adversely effected, but persons who are concerned about it can have their water analyzed by a commercial laboratory.
Persons who have been eating more fish from Plat "I" reservoir than is recommended in the advisory may wish to check with their health care providers. Diagnostic tests can be performed which would identify abnormal mercury levels in the body.
Anglers are encouraged to practice catch-and-release fishing, especially with larger specimens because mercury levels tend to be higher in larger, older fish. Because fish-mercury is bound within the muscle tissue of organisms, it cannot be removed or reduced significantly by cleaning methods, washing, cooking, brining, smoking or other processing activities.
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