State Warns Of Toxins In Housatonic Fish

By Andrew Gorosko

With anglers again plying rivers and lakes for their favorite fish, the state has issued health warnings about eating fish taken from Connecticut’s waters, including the Housatonic River.

Those warnings are based on the fish being contaminated with toxic chemicals.

The state Department of Public Health (DPH) and state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) are warning people about eating certain fish taken from the Housatonic River, upstream of the Derby Dam, including Lake Zoar, Lake Lillinonah, and Lake Housatonic.

Pregnant women, women who plan to become pregnant within one year, and children under age six, all of whom are in a high-risk health group, should not eat trout, catfish, eels, carp, bass, white perch, and bullheads taken from the Housatonic River upstream of the Derby Dam, according to the state.

Other people should not eat trout, catfish, eels, or carp taken from the river. Those people should eat no more than one meal every two months of bass, white perch, and bullheads.

Small fish such as sunfish, yellow perch, and pumpkinseeds, which are known as panfish, and which are non-predatory, tend to be less contaminated and relatively safer to eat than larger, predatory fish, according to the state.

Pregnant women, women who plan to become pregnant within one year, and children under age six may safely eat one meal per month of those panfish. Other people may safely eat one meal per week of such panfish.

Fish in the Housatonic River are contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in particular, and mercury in general. Trimming away fat and cooking fish on a rack so that fish fat drips away can reduce exposure to PCBs in fish.

PCBs can build up in the body. They are most dangerous to people during pregnancy and to young children. PCBs may cause cancer, according to DPH.

Mercury is a toxic metal which can build up in a person’s body and damage the nervous system and kidneys. Women who consume fish containing mercury before or during pregnancy may have children who are slow to develop and learn, according to DPH.

Brian Toal, director of DPH’s toxic hazards section, said Tuesday, “Our message is not to scare people away from [eating] fish. If you follow our guidance, you can eat the fish safely.”

The hazards of eating Housatonic River fish are significantly different between high-risk groups, such as pregnant women, and low-risk groups which include the general population, Mr Toal said.

PCBs entered the Housatonic in the past from a General Electric electrical transformer factory in Pittsfield, Mass. Mercury has entered the river through the atmosphere, as a byproduct of incineration. PCB levels in the Housatonic have dropped during the last 15 to 20 years, Mr Toal noted.

The state has posted health warnings about eating fish from the Housatonic River at state boat launches on Hanover Road in Newtown and on Route 133 In Bridgewater. The warnings are posted in English on white signs and in Spanish on orange signs.

The state plans to post signs with the fish consumption advisory in Cambodian, Vietnamese, Thai, and Laotian, Mr Toal said.  Southeast Asians are avid fishermen.

Additional information on health problems posed by eating fish taken from Connecticut waters is available from DPH at 860-509-7742. Questions on fishing should be directed to the DEP at 860-424-3474.

Copies of the state’s detailed advisory on fish consumption are available free at the town clerk’s office in Edmond Town Hall at 45 Main Street.