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Local waters added to sport fish consumption advisory list

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White Hall Lake

(WSIL) -- The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced updated consumption advisories for sport fish caught in some Illinois waters. 

IDPH has issued seven new site-specific methylmercury advisories and added Dongola Lake, Dutchman Lake in the Shawnee National Forest, Lake Nellie in Fayette County, and White Hall City Lake in Greene County to the list of advisories. 

Existing PCB advisories were relaxed for two waters Horseshoe Lake (catfish) and Waukegan North Harbor and removed from three others Horseshoe Lake (common carp), Raccoon Lake in Centralia, and Wabash River.

In line with the statewide trend of declining polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) levels, no new PCB advisories were issued. 

In addition to this year’s site-specific updates, a statewide methylmercury advisory remains in place for all Illinois waters. 

The statewide advisory cautions sensitive populations to eat no more than one meal per week of predatory fish, unless more restrictive site-specific advisories are in place due to elevated methylmercury levels.  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. 

Fish consumption advisories are based primarily on protecting sensitive populations, including women of childbearing age, pregnant women, fetuses, nursing mothers, and children younger than 15 years of age. 

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 chlordane, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and methylmercury in fish.