SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois Department of Public Health announced updated consumption advisories for fish caught in Illinois waters. Ten bodies of water, rivers, and streams added site-specific methylmercury advisories. Locally, PCB advisories were removed for certain species in the Illinois River. Concerns for PCB’s continue on the Illinois and Fox Rivers involving Channel Catfish, Smallmouth Bass, Common Carp, and White Bass. Authorities advise limiting your consumption of those species to once per month. A statewide methylmercury advisory remains in place for those who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant, and children less than 15 years of age to not consume more than one meal per week of predatory fish.
Predatory fish include all species of black bass, gar, salmon, and trout, as well as striped bass, white bass, walleye, sauger, flathead catfish, muskellunge, northern pike, and associated hybrids. While there is no known immediate health hazard from eating contaminated fish from any Illinois water body, there are concerns about the effects of long-term, low-level exposure to PCBs and methylmercury in fish. More information is at the IDPH Fish Advisories website.
