Oct. 2010
No public eating guidelines will be issued for fish at Ruth Lake, and no advisory will be posted to warn fishermen about high mercury levels in largemouth bass, despite a recent study that found high levels in the popular fish.
It’s not that contamination levels are disputed, or that the mercury will disappear from the environment any time soon. Rather the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) can’t burden the public—at least until they have good news to share.
“Fish are an important part of a healthy diet, and provide vital nutrients such as Omega 3s. We need data from a variety of species so that we can not only warn about species that are high in mercury, but also recommend the species that are safest to eat,” said Colleen Flannery, of OEHHA’s Legislative and External Affairs.
Largemouth bass recently sampled from Ruth Lake averaged mercury levels of .71 parts-per-million (ppm). Eleven fish were sampled, ranging from .44 to 1.08 ppm. The results were published in June as part of a statewide survey of lakes.
“The mercury levels in Ruth Lake bass are well above the threshold at which OEHHA advises no consumption for sensitive populations,” said principal investigator Jay Davis, of the San Francisco Estuary Institute. The study was contracted by the Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Program (SWAMP)—a program of the California State Water Board.
