Health Officials: Illinois River Fish Now OK To Eat, Sometimes

SPRINGFIELD, IL — The Illinois Department of Public Health has given the go ahead for sport fishers to transform catch and release to catch and eat — on occasion.

Public health officials dropped a "do not eat" advisory for certain fish from the Illinois River that had been in place since the 1970s. The loosened recommendations come as a result of declining levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, also known as PCBs. These harmful chemicals were mainly found in catfish within the Illinois River. While officials don't know the long-term effects of consuming PCBs, new research suggests a once-weekly to once-monthly meal, depending on the type of fish, is safe for humans.

PCBs were originally used for insulating electrical equipment or to keep fluids away from machinery. Their use was banned in 1979, but the toxic presence still lingers in Illinois waterways. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classified PCBs as "probable human carcinogens" and warned continued exposure to the chemical could hurt vulnerable populations.

Each year, state health officials take fish samples from between 40 and 50 streams, rivers and lakes, including four Lake Michigan posts. From those samples, they determine if fish are still harboring PCBs in their fatty tissue. Latest results suggest there is "no immediate health hazard from eating contaminated fish" from Illinois waterways, according to a news release from IDPH. Long-term hazards remain a different story.

For the time being, Petaconica, Skokie and Sugar rivers and Schiller Pond were removed from the advisory list altogether.

Current fish-eating advisories related to PCBs, chlordane and dioxins can be found here, and special mercury advisories here.