Children's Health Defense Eating a single serving of freshwater fish can be the equivalent of drinking water contaminated with high levels of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, for a month, but states lack cohesive guidance on safe consumption levels, according to a recent study from the Environmental Working Group.
By Hannah Norman
Bill Eisenman has always fished.
“Growing up, we ate whatever we caught — catfish, carp, freshwater drum,” he said. “That was the only real source of fish in our diet as a family, and we ate a lot of it.”
Today, a branch of the Rouge River runs through Eisenman’s property in a suburb north of Detroit. But in recent years, he has been wary about a group of chemicals known as PFAS (per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances), also referred to as “forever chemicals,” which don’t break down quickly in the environment and accumulate in soil, water, fish and our bodies.
The chemicals have spewed from manufacturing plants and landfills into local ecosystems, polluting surface water and groundwater and the wildlife living there. And hundreds of military bases have been pinpointed as sources of PFAS chemicals leaching into nearby communities.
Researchers, anglers and environmental activists nationwide worry about the staggering amount of PFAS found in freshwater fish. At least 17 states have issued PFAS-related fish consumption advisories, KFF Health News found, with some warning residents not to eat any fish caught in particular lakes or rivers because of dangerous levels of forever chemicals.
With no federal guidance, what is considered safe to eat varies significantly among states, most of which provide no regulation.
Eating a single serving of freshwater fish can be the equivalent of drinking water contaminated with high levels of PFAS for a month, according to a recent study from the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a research and advocacy organization that tracks PFAS.
It’s an unsettling revelation, especially for rural, Indigenous and low-income communities that depend on subsistence fishing. Fish remain a large part of cultural dishes, as well as an otherwise healthy source of protein and omega-3s…
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