Q. What are PCBs?
A. PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are a group of man-made chemicals that were used as lubricants and coolants in a variety of industrial and electrical products and applications, and in ink and paint additives. The manufacture of PCBs in the United States was banned in 1977. PCBs are very persistent, and even though their manufacture was discontinued nearly 30 years ago, trace levels of PCBs remain throughout our environment. Everyone is exposed to some PCBs, and they are found everywhere. They have even been found in penguins in Antarctica. There are several possible sources of exposure to PCBs including drinking water with PCBs, breathing air with PCBs and occupational health exposures. The most common source of exposure is from eating foods that may contain some level of PCBs. Such foods include fish, eggs, red meat, poultry, milk and cheese. Click here for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency PCB information.
Q. Is FWP concerned that PCBs may be in others Montana hatcheries?
A. Although the PCB finding at the Big Springs Trout Hatchery is the first of its kind in a Montana state hatchery, FWP recently embarked on a systematic testing of the state’s eight other hatcheries. Initial results are expected later this month.
Q. What kind of fish are raised at the Big Spring Trout hatchery and were are they stocked?
A. Big Springs Trout Hatchery annually stocks about 1.25 million rainbow trout, 40,000 grayling and a total of 600,000 cutthroat trout, brown trout and kokanee salmon. It is responsible for about half of the total weight of the state’s coldwater fish-stocking regimen, with the state’s other eight hatcheries responsible for the remaining half. About 25 percent of the hatchery’s fish are destined for stocking in Canyon Ferry, Holter and Hauser reservoirs near Helena. In all, about 100 different waters are planted with fish raised at the Big Springs hatchery.
Q. What has FWP done since learning that paint used more than 25 years ago in the Big Springs Trout Hatchery is the suspected source of PCBs the Big Springs Creek?
A. In December 2003, after learning that elevated levels of PCBs were found in wild trout below the hatchery, Montana health officials issued a "do-not-eat" advisory for wild fish caught on an upper portion of Big Springs Creek. As a precaution, state fish and wildlife officials imposed a catch-and-release only regulation on about 10 additional stream miles. The Big Spring Creek do-not-eat advisory and the catch-and-release regulation extend from the hatchery to the U.S. Highway 191 Bridge adjacent to the Lazy KB Fishing Access Site. To meet Environmental Protection Agency regulations, FWP hired an independent consulting firm to determine where PCB-contaminated paints remain in the Big Springs hatchery and to develop a plan for their removal. Under the plan, the hatchery was evaluated for PCB concentrations in raceway paints as well as for paints that may have penetrated raceway concrete. Removal of surface paint from the hatchery raceways will eliminate more than 90 percent of the PCBs. Alternatives being considered include: (1) full replacement and reconstruction of the existing raceways, and (2) removal of surface paint and coat existing raceway surfaces with a safe and stabilizing sealant. FWP hopes to begin clean up as soon as the EPA approves a plan. The clean up of the hatchery is estimated at $300,000 to more than $2 million. FWP is pursuing a legal settlement with the PCB manufacturer that could be used to help fund the clean up.
Q. How did the paint enter Big Springs Creek?
A. It appears that paint chips that entered Big Spring Creek over the years did so either as clinging algae was washed or scraped from raceway walls or when paint was removed to prepare raceways for repainting. The PCB-laden paint was applied more than 25 years ago, before the chemical was known to be an environmental contaminate. The practice of allowing scraped or power-washed algae and associated paint chips to flow into the stream ended last summer as soon as FWP suspected that raceways contained contaminated paint.
Q. How will the creek be cleaned up?
A. Montana’s Department of Environmental Quality is regulating clean up of Big Springs Creek. Under state law, FWP must complete a risk assessment and a feasibility study prior to clean up. The risk assessment will evaluate potential affects of PCB-contaminated paints on humans as well as the environment.
Q. What testing is underway of other fish to be stocked in 2004?
A . Although the PCB finding in the Big Springs Hatchery is the first of its kind in a Montana state hatchery, FWP recently embarked on a systematic testing of the state’s eight other state hatcheries. Initial results are expected later this month.
Q. Are PCBs found in fish from any other Montana water?
A. Yes. In addition to Big Springs Creek, PCBs have been detected in lake trout in Flathhead Lake, walleye in Holter Lake, rainbow trout in Seeley Lake, and lake trout in Whitefish Lake.
Q. What do other states do about this issue?
A . PCBs in hatcheries is an issue in several states, most notably Pennsylvania, which recently began to regularly tests hatchery-stocked trout to detect PCBs, and New York. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced it will test fish in its national fish hatcheries in the Northeast for the possibility of contaminants. USFWS gives excess Atlantic salmon, lake trout and rainbow trout from its hatcheries to Northeast states for recreational fish stocking. In the Jan. 9 issue of the journal Science , both PCBs and dioxins were documented as occurring in farm-raised salmon. The article reports that these contaminants probably came from fish food.
Q. What is the current Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services guideline on PCBs as related to the levels discovered in the Big Springs Hatchery fish?
A: The current consumption guideline for PCBs is to not consume fish that contain more than 0.47 parts per million (ppm) of this chemical contaminant. This is consistent with guidelines established by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The levels of PCBs found in Big Spring Hatchery trout are many times less than the FDA tolerance levels for PCBs in fish. In addition, m any health officials maintain the benefits of eating salmon and trout that contain important nutrients, particularly omega-3 fatty acids outweigh the small risk, if the levels of PCBs are within internationally recognized safety limits.
Q. Can I still fish for trout and salmon and how many can I eat?
A. Yes. Although trout stocked from the Big Springs Trout Hatchery could fall under the state’s a one-meal-per-week consumption guidelines, it’s unlikely because as the fish grow to a truly cacheable size, the PCB concentration will diminish. For purposes of consumption advisories, a meal for an average size individual is about six ounces of cleaned and filleted fish, or about two fillets from one trout. Consumption advisories do not affect anyone’s fishing opportunities. Consumption advice is designed to inform people about consumption patterns and not to discourage people from participating in safe outdoor recreation.
Q. Would PCBs in stocked trout from the Big Springs hatchery dissipate once they are stocked in other waters?
A. It’s likely because the Big Springs hatchery stocks still-growing fingerlings and 8-inch-long yearling fish, opposed to fully-grown adult fish, the hatchery-raised fish continue to grow after being stocked, so it is certain PCB concentrations in their tissue will be reduced as they grow and live in the waters into which they are stocked .
Q. Are Big Springs Trout Hatchery fish safe to catch and eat?
A . FWP will only stock fish that are safe to catch, safe to handle and safe to eat in moderation in accordance with the state’s consumption guidelines. Other sport fish taken from Montana waters by anglers are subject to a one-meal-per-week consumption guideline. PCB-related consumption of s portfish caught from other areas of the state that fall within a one-meal per week advisory include:
* Flathead Lake--lake trout; 18-27 inches (larger lake trout are at the one-meal per month advisory level).
* Holter Lake--walleye larger than 20 inches.
* Seeley Lake--rainbow trout larger than 18 inches.
* Whitefish Lake--lake trout larger than 24 inches.
The complete Fish Consumption Advisory can be accessed on via the Internet at http://www.dphhs.state.mt.us/hpsd/pubheal/healsafe/pdf/fish.pdf .
Q. What are "consumption guidelines?"
A. Consumption guidelines are information tools, not regulatory or safety restrictions. They are intended to inform, not alarm. They are designed to be protective of pregnant women, women of childbearing age, children, and anglers who regularly consume fish in larger quantities over long periods of time. Consuming fish with the low levels of PCBs found in the Big Springs Trout Hatchery is of less concern to men and women beyond childbearing age, but they may also wish to follow this consumption advice.
Q. How should you clean and cook fish that might contain PCBs?
A . PCBs and most other organic contaminants usually build up in a fish’s fat deposits and just underneath the skin. By removing the skin and fat before cooking, you can reduce the levels of these chemicals. One of the best ways to reduce your exposure, and get a more enjoyable meal, is to fillet the fish. To further reduce chemicals in the fish you eat:
* Remove all skin
* Slice off fat belly meat along the bottom of the fish
* Cut away any fat above the fish’s backbone
* Cut away the V-shaped wedge of fat along the lateral line on each side of the fish
* Bake or broil trimmed fish on a rack or grill so the remaining fat drips away
* Discard any drippings. Do not eat them or use them for cooking other foods
Q. How can I make sense of the Montana consumption guidelines?
A. Some say it’s best to imagine the meal or "consumption guidelines" for PCBs in fish as a traffic signal with a red, yellow, and green light. Under PCB consumption advisories, the "do not eat" red light comes at .47 ppm. The yellow light for a meal a week to a meal month comes on for PCB levels between .025 and 0.47 ppm, and the green light does not come on until the levels are below 0.025 ppm.
Q. Where can one obtain information on these guidelines?
A . The DPHHS website provides access to the Montana Sport Fish Consumption Guidelines . It is current as of July 2003 .
Q. What are the health benefits of eating fish?
A . When properly prepared, fish provide a diet high in protein and low in saturated fats. Many researchers suggest that eating a half-pound of fish each week is helpful in preventing heart disease. Almost any kind of fish may have real health benefits when it replaces a high fat source of protein in the diet. A person can get the health benefits of fish and reduce unwanted contaminant’s by following consumption advisories and cleaning and cook their catch in ways that reduce fatty tissue.
Q. What are the health impacts of consuming fish with PCBs?
A. DPHHS provides detailed health information about this and other subjects. At worst, the EPA estimates that one additional cancer case may develop in one in 10,000 people eating PCB-contaminated fish for 70 years. Long lasting contaminants such as PCBs, chlordane, and mercury build up over time. It may take months or years of regularly eating contaminated fish to build up amounts that are a health concern. Women of childbearing age and children, as well as people who regularly eat hatchery trout or other sport fish, may have concerns about contaminants that build up over time. A health problem that may result from the contaminant’s found in fish range from small changes in health that are hard to detect to birth defects and cancer. Mothers who eat highly contaminated fish for many years before becoming pregnant may have children who are slower to develop and learn. The meal advice in consumption advisories is intended to protect children from these potential developmental problems. Adults are less likely to have health problems at the low levels that affect children. The human body gets rid of some contaminants over time. Consumption advisories for PCBs are based on effects other than cancer. PCBs have not been positively identified as a human carcinogen. The documented effects are mainly neurobehaviorial and developmental.
Q. Can you tell whether a fish has PCBs in it by look or taste?
A . No. At the very low levels of PCBs involved found in the Big Springs Hatchery, there would be no external evidence of the presence of the substance and the taste and smell of the fish would not be affected.
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