PCBs and Health

Fish Consumption Advisories

Read about Eating Safe Fish on the Department of Health and Family Services web site (exit DNR).

PCBs Linked to Adverse Health Effects

Several studies have been conducted on the public health implications of PCBs, including specific studies on PCBs found in fish from the Great Lakes area. The vast weight of evidence from these studies indicates that PCBs can cause a variety of adverse health effects in humans. These include developmental, immunological, reproductive, and neurobehavioral problems. PCBs are also thought to cause cancer in humans. PCBs build up in people's bodies over time and are stored in fat. Human and animal studies on exposure to PCBs found the following:

Developmental problems and reduced mental abilities in infants and children born to women who were exposed to PCBs

Problems with the nervous, immune, circulatory and hormonal systems

Liver damage, brain disorders, and skin problems

Increased risk of cancer.

Fish Consumption Poses the Greatest Risk from PCBs

The primary way people come in contact with contaminated sediment is by eating PCB-contaminated fish from the Lower Fox River and Green Bay. The human health risk assessment for the Lower Fox River and Green Bay calculated cancer risks and non-cancer health effects for the following populations:

Recreational anglers
High-intake fish consumers
Hunters
Drinking-water users
Local residents
Recreational water users (swimmers and waders)
Marine construction workers.

Of the groups studied, those with the highest cancer risks and non-cancer health effects were recreational anglers and high-intake fish consumers (subsistence fishers), due primarily to consumption of fish containing PCBs. The risk for fish consumers is at least 10 times greater than for all other population groups. The number of people potentially exposed include 47,000 anglers (based on fish licenses), and between 2,000 and 5,000 high-intake anglers including recreational anglers, low-income minority anglers, Native American anglers and Hmong/Laotian anglers. Cancer and non-cancer risks are unacceptably high for these groups by approximately 100 to 1,000 times. While there are differences in the extent of sediment contamination from Lake Winnebago through Green Bay, the risks to humans from eating contaminated fish are roughly the same throughout the river and bay.

Last Revised: Tuesday November 21 2006