Kansas Issues New Fish Consumption Advisories
Updated Guidelines include Mercury, PCBs, Perchlorate

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) have issued new fish consumption advisories for 2005. Fish consumption advisories do not mean Kansas fish are unsafe to eat, but are simply guidelines for the public to make informed choices about their health and diet. The advisories identify species of fish that should be eaten in limited quantities, or in some cases, avoided altogether because of contamination found in tested fish.

The new advisories include guidelines for mercury, PCBs and perchlorate in addition to chlordane; previous advisories had only included chlordane. In addition, the new advisories also now include guidelines for lead and cadmium in shellfish. Trend data from most Kansas long-term monitoring sites show a decrease in the major contaminants involved in this advisory: mercury, PCBs, and chlordane. PCBs have not been in use in the U.S. since the 1970's and chlordane use was discontinued in 1988. Chlordane levels have declined dramatically statewide and PCB levels are expected to follow . PCBs and chlordane degrade slowly, so it takes decades for them to be completely removed from the environment, even after use is discontinued.

The advisories assess cancer risk levels using EPA methods. Cancer risk assessment is a method to determine the added increase in cancer levels in a population if fish in the advisory areas are consumed regularly over a 70-year period. Assessments that estimate the increased risk of cancer as greater than one in 100,000 are determined to be unacceptably high-risk levels. Risk assessments for non-carcinogens (mercury, lead and cadmium) were based on 8-ounce meal size for adults and 4-ounce meal size for children over 9 years of age.

KDHE and KDWP advisories recommend that eating specified fish or aquatic life be avoided from the following locations for the reasons stated:

1. The Kansas River from Lawrence (below Bowersock Dam) downstream to Eudora at the confluence of the Wakarusa River for bottom-feeding fish* because of PCB levels;
2. Antioch Park Lake (south) in Antioch Park, Overland Park/Merriam (Johnson County) for bottom-feeding fish because of Chlordane levels;
3. Horseshoe Lake located in units 22 and 23 of the Mined Lands Wildlife Area (Cherokee County) for all forms of aquatic life in addition to all fish because of perchlorate levels;
4. The Spring River from the confluence of Center Creek to the Kansas/Oklahoma border (Cherokee County) for shellfish (mussels, clams, and crayfish) because of lead and cadmium levels;
5. Shoal Creek from the Missouri/Kansas border to Empire Lake (Cherokee County for shellfish because of lead and cadmium levels.

*Bottom-feeding (bottom dwelling) fish include: carp, blue catfish, channel catfish, flathead catfish, freshwater drum, bullheads, sturgeons, buffalos, carpsuckers and other sucker species.

In addition, KDHE and KDWP recommend a limit of one 8-ounce meal per month, or twelve 8-ounce meals per year, on the consumption of bottom-feeding fish from the following locations due to PCBs:

1. The Arkansas River from the Lincoln St. dam in Wichita downstream to the confluence with Cowskin Creek near Belle Plaine (Sedgwick and Sumner counties)
2. Cow Creek in Hutchinson and downstream to the confluence with the Arkansas River (Reno County)

Due to the average levels of mercury, KDHE and KDWP recommend a limit of one 8-ounce meal per week for adults or one 4-ounce meal per week for children 12 years of age or younger of any species of fish from the following locations:

(1) The Little Arkansas River from the Main Street Bridge immediately west of Valley Center to the confluence with the Arkansas River in Wichita (Sedgwick County).

(2) The main stem of the Blue River from U.S. 69 Highway to the Kansas / Missouri state line (Johnson County).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a national fish consumption advisory for mercury which recommends consuming no more than one 8-ounce meal per week of non-commercial (locally caught) fish. EPA bases this on nationwide average mercury levels in various species of fish, and recommends first consideration be given to local advisories. KDHE and KDWP do not apply the EPA advisory to bottom-feeding, bottom dwelling fish based on state data. KDHE and KDWP do recommend the national mercury advisory for sight-feeding predatory fish, such as largemouth bass. Additional testing for mercury is underway on sight-feeding predatory fish in Kansas and additional data will be available in late 2005.

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