Fishermen try their luck in Lake Michigan near The Bush neighborhood in Chicago on Dec. 25, 2021. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)
Chicago Tribune, January 17, 2023
Eating just one freshwater fish a year can dramatically increase the amount of toxic forever chemicals coursing through a person’s blood, according to a new study that reflects more than a half century of pollution contaminating the Great Lakes and rivers nationwide.
The alarming finding is based on an analysis of hundreds of fish caught by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency since 2013. Though the EPA has concluded some of the chemicals are harmful at any level, the agency hasn’t drawn attention to its fish sampling or warned Americans they could be in danger.
Nearly every fish tested by the EPA was tainted with perfluorooctane sulfonate or PFOS, a forever chemical used for decades in Scotchgard stain-resistant fabrics, firefighting foam and food packaging manufactured by Minnesota-based 3M.
Graphic courtesy of Earth Justice
PFOS builds up in human blood, doesn’t break down in the environment and triggers health problems such as liver damage, impaired fertility, immune system disorders, thyroid disease, increased cholesterol levels and reduced vaccine effectiveness. Long-term exposure also might cause cancer.
“These findings point to the urgent need to eliminate more releases of these chemicals into the environment,” said David Andrews, a senior scientist at the nonprofit Environmental Working Group and one of the authors of the new study. “We don’t want this problem to get any worse, especially knowing how long it’s going to take for it to get better.”
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Access the full report: “Locally caught freshwater fish across the United States are likely a significant source of exposure to PFOS and other perfluorinated compounds,” Nadia Barbo et al, Environmental Research (2022).