Minnesota Fish Warnings
The Minnesota Department of Health has issued a warning concerning the consumption of fish caught in the Minneapolis Chain of Lakes. Officials from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency found the chemical perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) a component used in 3M's scotch tape in a bluegill sunfish in Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis.
Because Lake Calhoun is connected to several other lakes, and bluegill are able to move between the connected lake, the warning includes Brownie, Cedar, and Harriet lakes, Lake of the Isles and parts of the Missississippi River south of Minneapolis.
PFOS has been found in bluegill, carp, channel catfish, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, white bass, norther pike, and walleye in the Ford Dam in St. Paul and the Hastings Dam of the Missississippi River. The Minnesota Department of Health suggests eating no more than 4 meals per month of some fish and no more than 1 meal per month for others. It would be best to avoid eating fish caught in these areas because fish testing positive for PFOS often have other contaminants such as mercury or PCB's. The specifics can be found on the Minnesota Department of Health website at www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/fish/index.html.
Pregnant women and children under the age of 15 should be especially careful when consuming possibly-contaminated fish because mercury can damage the developing nervous system.
Pritzker law , a nationally-recognized food poisoning and personal injury law firm, has extensive experience with injuries related to food consumption. Fred Pritzker is available for comment at 612-338-0202.
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