Don’t Eat the Bluefish or Striped Bass
By LEANNE GENDREAU
Updated 9:50 AM EST, Thu, Jun 4, 2009
If you planned on having bluefish or striped bass for dinner, think again.
State health officials are warning women who are pregnant and children under 6 not to feast on the sea creatures because of chemicals in the fish.
Everyone else should avoid eating the fish more than once per month. This only applies to bluefish that are longer than 25 inches.
There is enough polychlorinated biphenyl for health officials to be concerned about how this could affect the general public, according to the state Department of Health.
PCB’s are man-made organic chemicals known as chlorinated hydrocarbons and they were found in these two types of fish, which are commonly found in Long Island Sound.
The state Department of Health issued the warning because of what was in a multi-state report highlighting just how much PCB there is in striped bass and bluefish from Maine to Georgia.
PCB’s were found in 500 of the almost 1,600 most serious hazardous waste sites in the country, according to the Environmental Protection Agency and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Others who could be at high-risk include women of childbearing age, nursing mothers and children under 6.
If members outside of these groups want to take their chances, they are advised to eat no more than one meal per month.
Connecticut is not the only state warning about the potential harmful sea creatures. Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware are also issuing warnings.
First Published: Jun 3, 2009 12:12 PM EST
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