Oct. 31, 2002 -- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the American Fisheries Society (AFS), and the Vermont Department of Health co-hosted the National Annual Forum on Contaminants in Fish in Burlington, Vermont, on Oct. 20-22.
The Forum brought together over 250 people (public health and environmental officials from 48 states, 24 tribes, 6 federal agencies, and others) to talk about assessing possible health risks from eating noncommercial fish and wildlife.
Over 60 presentations were made by medical doctors, toxicologists, epidemiologists, fishery biologists, chemists, engineers and senior government policy makers.
Participants discussed the latest findings about the toxicological effects of bioaccumulative pollutants (including mercury, dioxins, brominated flame retardants, and PAHs) and approaches to developing state and tribal advisories.
Special sessions focused on balancing the risks and benefits of eating fish. Proceedings from the Forum will be available in February 2003.
You can find information about the Forum on the AFS website at http://www.fisheries.org/FishForum2002.shtml.
You can learn about fish advisories in general by visiting the EPA website at http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/fish or by calling Jeff Bigler at 202-566-0389.
