Health advisories for consumers of Great Lakes sport fish: is the message being received?

Abstract

Nationwide, 45 states issue health advisories for sport fish consumers. Chemical contaminants in some Great Lakes (GL) sport fish include compounds suspected of causing adverse reproductive and developmental effects. Although advisories to reduce consumption of contaminated fish, especially by women, have been issued by GL states (i.e., Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) since the mid-1970s, little is known about advisory awareness and GL sport fish consumption in the general population. To estimate the prevalence of GL sport fish consumption and health advisory awareness, we conducted a population-based telephone survey of 8,306 adult residents of the eight GL states. We gathered information concerning respondents' demographic characteristics, fish consumption during the preceding year, and sport fish consumption advisory awareness. The survey response rate was 69%. GL sport fish were eaten during the preceding year by 8.4% -95% confidence interval (CI), 7.6-9.2- of adults in the GL states, approximately 4.7 million persons. Women accounted for 43.9% (CI,39. 4-48.4) of consumers. Although 49.9% of GL sport fish consumers were aware of a health advisory, awareness varied significantly by sex: 58.2% (CI, 51.7-64.7) of males and 39.1% (CI, 32.6-45.6) of females were aware. Using logistic regression, we found awareness associated with male sex -odds ratio (OR) = 2.3; CI, 1.5-3.5), white race (OR = 4.2; CI, 1.9-9.1), college degree (OR = 3.1; CI, 1.3-7.6), and consuming >=24 GL sport fish meals/year (OR = 2.4; CI, 1.4-4.3). Only half of GL sport fish consumers reported awareness of a health advisory concerning eating GL sport fish. Awareness was especially low among women, suggesting the need of targeted risk communication programs for female consumers.ImagesFigure 1.

Environmental and occupational exposures and serum PCB concentrations and patterns among Mohawk men at Akwesasne

“…This resemblance in PCB body burden between the Mohawk and the Obijwe and Menominee peoples reflects similarity in their rates of local fish consumption, which currently averaged 21.2 meals per year for the Mohawk men and ranged from 12 to 34 meals per year for the Obijwe and Menominee. Consumption rates for both native groups are greater than the median of 6.5 sport fish meals per year reported for the general population of the Great Lakes states (Tilden et al, 1997). In contrast, much higher serum PCB levels have been observed among the Inuit people, who are much more dependent on local fish and other PCB-contaminated marine food sources than are the Mohawks (Ayotte et al, 1997).…”

Exploring lay uncertainty about an environmental health risk

“…While aware of these uncertainties, public health agencies in the Great Lakes region have issued public warnings about the potential risks related to eating Great Lakes fish. Unfortunately, however, studies indicate that fish consumption advisories do not reach many anglers and their families, and when advisories are received, they are often discounted or ignored (Burger, 2000;Tilden et al, 1997). Moreover, little to nothing is known about awareness, knowledge, and uncertainties among the general public (including non-anglers) about the risks from eating Great Lakes fish.…”

Potential exposure to PCBs, DDT, and PBDEs from sport-caught fish consumption in relation to breast cancer risk in Wisconsin.

“…In other studies, respondents reported incomplete or inaccurate information about the contamination of the fish and/or lack of trust in the organization issuing the advisory (Burger 1998;May and Burger 1996;Steenport et al 2000;Tilden et al 1997). Furthermore, risk perceptions are usually optimistically biased; individuals believe their own risk from a voluntary activity is less than someone else's risk (Weinstein 1989).…”