Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / July 29, 1993, edition 1 / Page 33
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LEVELS COULD BE HARMF1JI State: Limit River Bass Consum ption Because Of Mercury BV SUSAN USHKR If you cat largcmoudi bass caught in the Waccamaw River in Brunswick or Columbus County, State Health Director Dr. Ron Lcvine has some advice he'd like you to take seriously ? cut back consumption or stop eating the fish altogether. High levels of mercury found in largemouth bass tested over the past year led the state last Wednesday to issue a fish consumption advisory which applies to the bass only. The river is considered sale for recreational purposes such as swimming, wading and boaung, as well as eat ing other types of Fish caught there. "We want to stress this is only largemouth bass for this advisory.-" said Ken Rudo, a state toxicologist. "All other fish are OK to cat." "A lot of people fish the Waccamaw River to feed themselves and their families, and my concern is these people. For people who arc fishing on a regular basis in the river my advise is to not cat the bass," said Rudo. "If you do cat them, limit your intake. The key is the rate of consumption." Advisory signs will be going up along the river in the next few days. Also, a meeting will be held next Monday, Aug. 2, at 7 p.m. in the Old Dock school cafeteria. State offi cials will discuss the advi sory and related informa tion findings with local res idents who have questions. Excessive mercury levels can affect the central ner vous system and can causc brain and kidney damage as well as birth dcfccts. The advisory alerts women of childbearing age and children age 15 and under not to eat largemouth bass taken from the river or from Big Creek, near Lake Waccamaw in Columbus County. Adult men and older women arc advised to cut consumption to no more than two meals a month, based on a half-pound serving of a fish each meal. Dwight Babson of Ash, whose family owns a boat landing on Waccamaw River at New Britton Bridge, isn't certain what impact the advisory will have on river fishing or how seriously people will take the advisory. He said he sees a lot more people fishing for sunfish (bream) than bass, and most of those who fish the river do so for recreation, rather than to put food on the table on a regular basis. Still, he said there arc regulars who go in the river several times a week whose eating habits might be affcctcd. A meeting will be held Monday , Aug. 2, at 7 p.m. at Old Dock Elementary School Cafeteria in Columbus County for local residents who have questions about the advisory. Local fishermen Howard Inman and Willie J. Marlowe of Ash frequently fish the Waccamaw River and surrounding tributaries. Like Babson, they attended a meeting last Wednesday at the Old Dock-Cyprcss Creek Volunteer Fire Department on the advisory before they headed into the Green Swamp for an afternoon of pike fishing. Inman said he didn't think the advisory would have much of an impact on them, since their catch is typically a mix ? brim, pike, catfish, and an occasional bass, "anything that'll bite." "We don't catch that many bass, but when wc catch one, wc cat it," said Inman. However, Inman voiced a concern that others might not understand the limits of the advisory. "I'd hate to see people afraid to go in the river," he said. The state plans to conduct more sampling and test ing over die coming weeks and months in an effort to define the geographic distribution of the mercury accu mulalions and to ninpoinl possible sources of the con tamination, natural or other wise. That may be hard to do, said Jay Saubcr of the N.C. Division of Environmental Management, bccausc mer cury is found everywhere and is globally transported. Special efforts will be made to collect samples of two spccics that are popular table fish but were not found in earlier samples: white perch and bowfin, or blackfish. Pcrch is a member of the bass family. Blackfish is the major predator fish caught in the river in winter and the key ingredient of blackfish stew, a popular winter time food for locals. "I'd like to sec them check the bowfin," said Bab son, whose family net fishes commercially for blackfish cach winter. "A lot of those arc eaten in the winter. Wc sell prob ably a thousand pounds or more. Wc can't keep them." Smidi said the state also is interested in meeting with individuals who arc concerned about the adverse health cffccts of long-term consumption of mercury-contami natcd bass. Tests arc available that indicate blood mer cury levels. The local largemouth bass advisory will remain in place until tissue tests of fish taken from the waters test below the federal action level for two consccutivc years. Meanwhile, Babson says he plans to simply tell cus tomers "just what I've been told," he said. Why Just Worry About Bass? And Other Good Questions Why arc cxccssive mercury levels showing up in bass, but not in other fish taken from the Waccamaw River? How can it be OK to eat other fish taken from the same water when you shouldn't eat the bass? Those are just some of questions state scientists arc trying to address as they spread the word of an advi sory urging residents to limit con sumption of largemouth bass caught in the Waccamaw River in Bruns wick and Columbus countics, and in Big Creek in Columbus County. Excessively high levels of mercury have been found in bass taken from those waters. "We're all exposed to mercury on a daily basis ? in our food, in our drinking water and in the air we breathe," said Greg Smith, a senior state epidemiologist. "This is a pre ventive measure, nothing to panic about." Mercury is a chemical element found in nature in several forms. Mercury has also been used in bat teries, switches, fungicide, paint pig ments and electrical equipment. When released into the environment it stays there a long time and can be transported globally through the at mosphere. Mercury also combines with other elements to form compounds. When combined with carbon, a process that occurs in biological systems, for example, mercury is converted to its more toxic form, mcthylmercury, which can affect the central nervous system. "High levels of this form could cause adverse health effects, particu larly in young children and fetuses," said Smith. This form of mercury can build up in certain fish. Bass are one species of those fish. Furthermore, the species is at the top of the Waccamaw River food chain, are long-lived, and generally stay in one small area all of their lives. For those reasons, they serve as good in dicators of what is going on in that environment. Bass take in mercury through their food and through their gills. From the time mercury is first ab sorbed in the system, it takes 70 days for half of it to disappear. That means when mercury is taken in on a regular basis (faster than it is re leased) levels tend to build up in the tissue. 'The largemouth bass accumulate mercury at a rate thousands of times greater than we are able to detect it in the water," said Jay Sauber of the Division of Environmental Manage ment. "That's why it gives us a < sense of what is going on in that en vironment over a long period of time." 7 HE LARGEMOUTH BASS is generally dark green above with silvery sides and belly. A dark stripe runs head to tail but generally breaks up in larger individuals. Three dark bars are found on the sides of the head behind and below the eyes. That's also why you can have one type of fish that may not be safe to eat swimming in water that's other wise safe for recreational swim ming, boating and even catching other types of fish for human con sumption. Bass collected from above and below Lake Waccamaw showed high mercury levels, but few of the bass taken from the lake itself did. State officials believe it is safe to eat bass taken from Lake Waccamaw. Why the levels arc different Sauber doesn't know. He said the higher pH and unique environment of the lake could be factors affccting the rate of mercury uptake by the fish. The state has no obvious explana tion for the differences in test re sults, or for the source of the mer cury itself. In fact, if local residents have suggestions as to possible sources of the mercury, Sauber and other state researchers want to hear about them. The department also wants to hear from fishermen regarding popular fishing areas to be added to the list of sampling sites, such as Juniper Creek and the "lakes" of Seven Creeks. The locations proposed will be rated by priority. "We'll try to hit those fishing hot spots," said Sauber. The state will not test bass from privately-owned ponds or lakes in the advisory area, but suggested that it would be a good idea for owners to have samples tested in a private lab and to reduce consumption as a precaution. Levels High For Bass Only, Not Other Fish The bass taken from the Wacca maw River and Big Creek had mer cury levels in excess of one part per million, the federal standard for tak ing preventive action to protect pub lic health. At Pireway (N.C. 904), five specimens sampled showed a mean mercury level of 1.48 ppm, and at the New Britton Bridge on N.C. 130 near Ash, five bass showed a mean level of 1 .39 ppm. At the Crusoe Island Bridge (S.R. 1928), the one bass caught in May 1992 sampling was at a safe level, .78 ppm. With only individual exceptions, the mercury levels in other species of fish tested was well bciow the federal action level. Also, only nor mal traces of mercury were found in the water itself or the bottom sedi mentation. Only when mercury levels consis tently reach 1 part per million (ppm) does the federal government recom mend the state act to warn con sumers of a potential health threat. The level has a built-in safety fac tor when it comes to adults. The danger level of mercury in an adult male is about 15 to 20 parts per mil lion. But the danger level for an un born child or a child in the develop ing years is about 5 ppm. "In children we do not have the luxury of a safety factor," said Ken Rudo, a state toxicologist. The Waccamaw River and Big Creek arc the third set of North Car olina waters to be posted because of mercury contamination of fish. A consumption advisory for part of High Rock Lake was issued in 1981 and lifted last spring. A former mer cury submarine battery plant site that has since been cleaned up was the source of that contamination. Two weeks ago three man-made golf coursc lakes in Moore County were posted. No obvious source has been found yet for that contamina tion. In South Carolina a temporary ad visory has been posted for Wacca maw River as far south as Conway, subject to being lifted or extended farther downriver depending on the results of tissue testing now under way, said "Butch" Younginer. More information on the advisory, and on methylmcrcury arc available from the N.C. Department of Envir onment, Health and Natural Re sources Public Affairs Office, 919 7 1 5-4 1 1 2, or the state's environmen tal epidemiologists, at 919-733 3410. jf. ! STAFF PHOTO BY SUSAN USMtR DR. HARRY JOHNSON (center front) attended a meeting with state health officials last Wednesday, along with fellow Brunswick. 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The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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July 29, 1993, edition 1
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