MDCH Releases 2011-2012 Michigan Fish Advisory

Contact: Kelly L. Niebel (517) 241-2112

Agency: Community Health

LANSING- The Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) has released the 2011-2012 Michigan Fish Advisory at www.michigan.gov/eatsafefish. This update includes nine changes to advisories- two were relaxed and seven were expanded. The Michigan Fish Advisory is protective for all ages and helps people who eat fish to choose those that are lower in chemicals and safer for the whole family to eat.

The Advisory provides water body and fish specific recommendations for two groups of people. One is for the general population, which includes women over the age of 45 and males 15 years old and older. The second is for women and children, which includes females ages 15 to 45 and children under the age of 15.

Young children and fetuses are at the greatest risk of the health effects of mercury, dioxin, and PCBs found in some types of fish. These chemicals have been connected to liver damage, cancer, birth defects, and could harm brain development if eaten in large quantities or over a long period of time.

You can get a free copy of the Michigan Fish Advisory and other useful fish consumption information, including the Hooked on Fish Cookbook: Recipes from the Great Lakes State, at http://www.michigan.gov/eatsafefish or by calling the Michigan Department of Community Health- Divison of Environmental Health at (800) 648-6942.