&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Water
4305
EPA-823-F-9Q-OOQ
June 1S9G
Fact Sheet
Update: National Listing of Fish and Wildlife
Consumption Advisories
Summary
The 1995 update for The National Listing of Fish and Wildlife Consumption Advisories is now available from the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This database includes all available information describing State-issued fish and
wildlife consumption advisories for the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and four U.S. Territories. The database
contains information provided to EPA as of December 1995. The number of waterbodies under advisory rose by 209 in
1995 to a total of 1,740, representing a 14% increase over 1994. The number of waterbodies under advisory represents
15% of the Nation's total lake acres and 4% of the Nation's total river miles. In addition, 100% of the Great Lakes waters
and their connecting waters, and a large portion of the Nation's coastal waters are also under advisory. The number of
advisories increased for five contaminants (mercury, PCBs, chlordane, dioxins, and DDT).
Background
The States, the District of Columbia, and the four U.S.
Territories (hereafter referred to as States) have primary
responsibility for protecting their residents from the
health risks of consuming contaminated noncommercial
fish and wildlife. They do this by issuing consumption
advisories for the general population, including recrea-
tional and subsistence fishermen, as well as for sensitive
subpopulations (such as pregnant women, nursing
mothers, and children). These advisories inform the
public that high concentrations of chemical contaminants
(e.g., mercury and dioxins) have been found in local fish
and wildlife. The advisories include recommendations to
limit or avoid consumption of certain fish and wildlife
species from specific waterbodies or, in some cases,
from specific waterbody types (e.g., all lakes).
States typically issue five major types of advisories and
bans to protect the general population and specific
subpopulations that may be at greater risk from expo-
sure to chemical contaminants in fish and wildlife. When
levels of chemical contamination pose a health risk to
the general public, States may issue a no consumption
advisory for the general population (NCGP). When
contaminant levels pose a health risk to sensitive
subpopulations, States may issue a no-consumption
advisory for the sensitive subpopulation (NCSP). In
waterbodies where chemical contamination is less
severe, States may issue an advisory recommending
either the general population (RGP) or a sensitive
subpopulation (RSP) restrict consumption of specific
species for which the advisory is issued. The fifth type of
State-issued advisory is the commercial fishing ban
(GFB), in which the State prohibits the commercial
harvest and sale of fish and/or wildlife species from a
designated waterbody and by inference, t he consump-
tion of all species in the fishing ban in that waterbody.
As shown in Table 1, all types of advisories except the
NCGP have increased in number from 1993 to 1995.
Table 1. Advisories Issued from 1993 to 1995 by type
,
NCGP
NCSP
RGP
RSP
CFB
1993
503
555
993
689
30
1994
462
720
1,182
900
30
1995
463
778
1,372
- -1042
55
Advisories in Effect
The revised database identifies the types of advisories
and bans that are currently in force in each State. It
also includes information on: •
- Species and size range of fish and/or wildlife
- Chemical contaminants identified in the advisory
- Geographic location of each advisory (including
landmarks, river miles, or latitude and longitude
coordinates of the affected waterbody)
- Lake acreage or river miles under advisory
- Date the advisory was issued
The database can generate national, regional, and State
maps that illustrate any combination of the advisory
parameters. In addition, the 1995 database can provide
information on the percentage of waterbodies in each
State that is currently under an advisory. The name of"
each State contact is also provided as well as a phone
number and FAX number so users can obtain additional
information concerning specific advisories.
-------
Advisory Trends .
The number of waterbodies under advisory reported to
EPA in 1995 (1,740) represents a 14% increase from
the number reported in 1994 (1,532 advisories) and a
36% increase from the number of advisories issued
since 1993 (1,278 advisories). The increase in adviso-
ries issued reflects an increase in the number of
assessments of the levels,of chemical contaminants in
fish and wildlife tissues. These additional assessments
were conducted as a result of increased awareness of
health risks associated with the consumption of
chemically contaminated fish and wildlife. Figure 1
shows the number of advisories currently in effect and
the increase or decrease in the number of advisories
since 1994. The number of advisories decreases if
States determine that the monitored concentrations of
chemical contaminants in fish or wildlife tissues have
decreased arid no longer pose a risk to human health.
Bioaccumulative Pollutants
Although advisories have been issued for a total of
45 chemical contaminants, most advisories involve five
primary contaminants. These chemical contaminants are
of primary concern because they are known to accumu-
late in the tissues of aquatic organisms at concentrations
many times higher than concentrations in the water and
their concentration increases at each higher level of the
food chain. As a result, top predators in a food chain,
such as trout, salmon, or walleye, may have extremely
high concentrations of these chemicals in their fatty
tissues. • ;
Mercury, PCBs, chlordane, dioxins, and DDT (and its
degradation products DDE and DDD) were responsible
for almost 95% of all fish consumption advisories in .
effect in 1995. This pattern was also seen in the 1993
and 1994 databases. (See Figure 2)
Figure 1
Number of Fish Advisories Issued by Each State in 1995
(change in number from 1994)
1(0)
Ocu 0(0)
0(0)
Note: The numbers depicted here do not necessarily reflect the geographic extent of
chemical contamination in each State nor the extent of a State's monitoring
efforts. An asterisk (*) denotes States that have issued statewide advisories
for particular pollutants or types of waterbodies.
-------
Figure 2
Trends in Number of Advisories
Issued for Various Pollutants
Chlordan'e
Others
200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400
Number of Advisories
The number of waterbodies under advisory for all of the
major contaminants except dioxins has increased since
1993. This increase is most striking fort"rt Contami-
nants: mercury and PCBs.
Mercury — Advisories for mercury increased 46% from
1993 to 1995 (899 to 1,308). The number of States that
have issued mercury advisories also has risen steadily
from 27 in 1993 to 35 in1995. The rise in the number
of mercury advisories in 1995 is attributed primarily to
issuance of new mercury advisories in 19 States.
Eight States issued 90% of the 190 new mercury
advisories in 1995: Minnesota (89), New Jersey (30),
Georgia (19), North Dakota (12), Massachusetts (7),
Florida (6), Arkansas (4), and Nebraska (4).
Ten States have issued 90% of the 1,308 mercury
advisories in effect States: Minnesota (646), Wisconsin
(237), Florida (94), North Dakota (35), Massachusetts
(34), New Jersey.(30), Michigan (28), New Mexico (26),
South Carolina (24), and Georgia (23).
PCBs - Advisories for PCBs increased 37% from
1993 to 1995 (319 to 438). The number of States that
have issued PCB advisories increased only slightly from
31 to 35 States from 1993 to 1994 and then declined to
34 States in 1995. This decline was the result of one
PCB advisory being lifted in Oklahoma.
The rise in the number of PCB advisories in 1995 can
be attributed to the issuance of new advisories by 12
States. The majority (83%) of the 47 new advisories,
however, were issued by only two States: Minnesota
(21) and Georgia (18). In addition, six States rescinded
advisories for PCBs.
To date, 81% of the 438 PCB advisories have been
issued by 11 States: Minnesota (117), New York (47),
Michigan (44), Wisconsin (25), Indiana (22), Georgia
(21), Nebraska (19), Ohio (18), Pennsylvania (16),
Massachusetts (16), and New Jersery (11).
Other Pollutants - The total number of advisories for"
chlordane, DDT (and its degradation products), and all
other chemical contaminants also increased 16%, 3%,
and 16%, respectively, from 1993 to 1995.
The total number of advisories for dioxins was highest at
59 in 1993, then declined to 54 jn 1994, and rose to 55
advisories in 1995. Dioxins are one of several chemical
contaminants for which advisories have been rescinded
by some States, in part because many pulp and paper
mills have changed their pulping and bleaching pro-
cesses. ,
%
Wildlife Advisories
The database also contains several wildlife advisories.
Four States have issued consumption advisories for
turtles: Arizona (3), Massachusetts (1), Minnesota (5),
and New York (statewide advisory). One State (Massa-
chusetts) has an advisory for frogs, and New York has a
statewide advisory for waterfowl (mergansers).
1995 Advisory Listing
The 1995 database lists 1,740 waterbodies currently
under advisory in 47 States, the District of Columbia,
and the U.S. Territory of American Samoa. The database
counts one advisory for each waterbody name regard-
less of the number of fish or wildlife species that are
affected or the number of chemical contaminants
detected at concentrations of human health concern.
Ten States (Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Michigan, Missouri,
Rhode Island, and Vermont) currently have statewide
advisories in effect. A statewide advisory is issued to
warn the public of the potential for widespread contami-
nation of certain species of fish in certain types of
waterbodies (e.g., lakes). In such a case, the State may
have found a level of contamination of a specific pollut-
ant in a particular fish species over a relatively wide
geographic area that warrants advising the public of the
situation.
The database also lists advisories issued in 1995 by 47
States for 1,730 specifically named waterbodies. These
waterbodies represent about 15% of the Nation's lake
acreage and 4% of the Nation's river miles. In addition,
100% of the Great Lakes waters and their connecting
waters and a large portion of the Nation's coastal waters
are also under advisory. The Great Lakes waters and
their connecting waters are considered separately from
other lakes, and river miles.
-------
The percentages of lake acres and river miles in each
State that are currently under a fish advisory are shown
in Figures 3 and 4, respectively. Comparing 1994 and
1995, all of the Great Lakes and their connecting waters
were under advisory in both years. However, only 14%
of lake acres and 4% of river miles nationwide were
under advisory in 1994.
Database Use and Access
The database is designed primarily to help Federal,
State, and local government agencies and Indian Tribes
assess the potential for human health risks associated
with consumption of chemical contaminants in noncom-
mercial fish and wildlife. It may also be used by the
general public to make informed decisions about the
waterbodies in which they choose to fish or harvest
wildlife; the frequency with which they fish the water-
bodies; the species, size, and number of fish they
collect; and the frequency with which they consume fish
from specific waterbodies.
The 1995 update of the database is available for down-
loading from the Internet through the following URL:
http://www.epa.gov/OW/OST/Tools
Figure 3
Percentage of Lake Acres
Currently Under Advisory
Nine States have 100% of their lake acres under fish adviso-
ries (these include some States with statewide advisories),
another 8 States have 10% to 50% of their lake acres under
advisories, 24 States have <10% of their lake acres under
advisories, and 9 States have no lake acres under advisories.
NA = Not available, lake acreage under advisories not
known.
The 1995 version of the National Listing Of Fish and
Wildlife Consumption Advisories is PC-based and
is also available to the public free of charge on
3.5-inch diskettes. For copies of the diskettes, contact:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
National Center for Environmental
Publications and Information
11029 Kenwood Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45242
(513-489-8190)
Refer to document number EPA-823-C-96-011.
For further information on specific advisories within a
particular State, contact the appropriate State agency
contact given in the database.
For more information concerning national fish contami-
nation information, contact:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Science and Technology
Standards and Applied Science Division (4305)
401 M Street SW
Washington, DC 20460
Figure 4
Percentage of River Miles
Currently Under Advisory
Seven States have 100% of their river miles under fish
advisories (these include some States with statewide adviso-
ries), 34 States have <10% of their river miles under adviso-
ries, arid 10 States have no river miles under advisories.
NA = Not available, river miles under advisories not
known.
------- |