Low-level fish advisory doesn’t change recommended fish consumption at Badin Lake

The N.C. Division of Public Health has issued a low-level fish advisory for Badin Lake that reiterates its recommendation that residents should limit their consumption of largemouth bass and catfish to no more than once a week.  Pregnant women, nursing mothers and children under 15 should not eat these fish at all.

This advisory does not change the current recommendations for eating fish in Badin Lake in any way.  Under an existing statewide advisory for mercury, the N.C. Division of Public Health has already recommended limiting consumption of largemouth bass or other fish high in mercury to no more than once a week.

This advisory is the result of a fish tissue study that was recommended and partially funded by Stanly County.  The study — the most sophisticated study of fish tissue ever conducted in North Carolina — found slightly elevated levels of PCBs in one largemouth bass and three catfish out of 30 fish that were tested.

Given the prevalence of PCBs in every waterway in America, it is not surprising that a highly sensitive study would find a few fish with slightly elevated levels.  If the State used the same procedures to test fish in other lakes and rivers in North Carolina, it would likely find similar levels of PCBs in fish from those waters.

The presence of PCBs in fish is not an isolated issue affecting Badin Lake.  In fact, test results posted on the N.C. Division of Water Quality website indicate that fish in many other lakes and rivers across the state — including the Yadkin River near Mocksville, upstream of Badin Lake — have been found to have elevated levels of PCBs. 

At a public meeting on Wednesday, Department of Health officials said that although this study wasn’t designed to identify potential sources of contamination, it makes sense to look upstream for sources of the contamination since a majority of fish with elevated PCB levels were caught in the northwest part of the lake.