Sunday, April 11, 1999

Ohio River channel cats fit to eat, but be cautious

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Health officials leery of PCBs

BY BEN L. KAUFMAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Channel catfish (top) and flathead fish from the Ohio River. | ZOOM |

        For the second consecutive year, a popular Ohio River fish has been judged fit to eat.

        The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) says channel cats less than 17 inches in length — called “fiddlers” or “squealers” — are OK for six meals a year.

        In 1998, ODH promoted the little critters from “do not eat” to the dinner table after Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) found reduced levels of contaminants in fish flesh.

        Bigger than that, don't eat them, ODH says, especially if you're pregnant, nursing or planning to get pregnant, or 6 years old or younger.

        By protecting those most sensitive people, health agencies are confident that they are protecting everyone, ODH epidemiologist Bob Johnson said.

        He wouldn't affirm the flip side of that equation, saying the paucity of studies kept him from saying others could ignore the warnings.

        Similarly, the improving status of small channel cats might be a subtle sign of improved conditions but Mr. Johnson wouldn't put his seal of approval on that judgment until he sees similar improvements in other game fish from the river.

        That caution was echoed by Jerry Schulte, senior biologist in charge of the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO) annual fish contamination study and published OEPA's channel cat data.

        Mr. Schulte and others said their annual warnings reflect the health community's concern that cancer-linked PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and other contaminants also can affect child development.

        And by a “meal,” health officials generally mean a serving of 8 ounces before cooking for a person weighing 150 pounds.

        That apart, ODH said anglers can eat:

        • Largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass and sauger weekly.

        • Freshwater drum, white and hybrid striped bass, monthly.

        • Flathead catfish, every other month.

        ODH said channel catfish 17 inches and over and com mon carp remain on the “do not eat” list.

        Those advisories were news to two anglers with lines in the Little Miami River where it flows into the Ohio.

        “I don't catch them that big,” one man said with a rumbling laugh.

        “Perch,” his buddy said, lifting a string of fish from the river.

        ODH said the main contaminant in fish flesh was PCBs, a suspected carcinogen used to insulate electric transformers until they were banned in 1979.

        “PCBs are a sin of the past,” Mr. Schulte at ORSANCO said.

        He said he was not sure whether fish ingested them when they ate and/or absorbed them from the water.

NUMBERS TO CALL
        ODH: (614) 644 6447

        Indiana: (317) 233-7207

        Kentucky: (502) 564-7181/3596/3410.

       

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