SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- The Illinois Department of Public Health today announced its 2004 consumption advisories for sport fish caught in Illinois waters, which, for the first time, includes recommendations for fish caught in Arrowhead Lake, Devil's Kitchen Lake, Kickapoo Creek, Salt Creek and the Big Muddy River.

Other changes this year include improvements in Lake Bracken fish, and new advisories for the DuPage River, Kishwaukee River, Rock River and sections of the Des Plaines, Illinois and Sangamon rivers because of higher levels of contaminants.

"The advisories are intended to help anglers and their families make informed choices about where to fish, the types of fish to eat, and how to prepare fish for cooking to reduce possible contaminants," said Dr. Eric E. Whitaker, state public health director. "By following this advice, fish can be an important part of a healthy diet. Almost all fish have health benefits, including being high in protein, vitamins and minerals and low in cholesterol and saturated fats."

While there is no known immediate health threat from eating contaminated fish from any body of water in Illinois, there are concerns about the effects of long-term, low-level exposure to the pesticides and chemicals, such as PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), chlordane and methylmercury, found in fish listed on the advisories. Methylmercury also has been found to cause reproductive damage and have adverse effects on the central nervous system, including developmental delays.

The advisories are based primarily on protecting women of childbearing age, pregnant women, fetuses, nursing mothers and children younger than 15 years of age. They may be overprotective for women beyond childbearing age and men older than 15.

Changes to this year's advisories include:

• Largemouth bass from Arrowhead Lake in Cook County should be limited to one meal per month by sensitive populations and one meal per week for all others because of elevated levels of mercury.
• Elevated levels of mercury were found in largemouth bass in Devil's Kitchen Lake in Williamson County and consumption of this fish should be limited to one meal per month by sensitive populations and one meal per week for all others. This is the first time the state's fish monitoring system has tested fish in this lake.
• Carp and channel catfish taken from Kickapoo Creek, which enters the Illinois River near Peoria, were added to the advisories due to PCB contamination. Carp larger than 17 inches should be limited to one meal per week. Channel catfish less than 17 inches should be eaten no more than once a week and those larger than 17 inches should be limited to one meal per month. This is the first time the state's fish monitoring system has tested fish in this river.
• Elevated levels of PCB were detected in carp caught in Salt Creek in the Des Plaines River Basin and should be limited to one meal per month.
• All sizes of carp from the Big Muddy River, from Rend Lake to Ill. Route 149, should be limited to one meal per week because of PCB contamination.
• Due to a decline in PCB contamination in Lake Bracken in Knox County, carp, largemouth bass and channel catfish can be eaten more often than previously advised. Carp can now be consumed once a month, largemouth bass should be limited to one meal a week, and channel catfish less than 15 inches can be eaten once a week. A cleanup of Steagall Landfill, a hazardous waste site north of the lake, in the early 1990s, is credited with the improved conditions.
• Flathead catfish larger than 29 inches in the Rock River, from Rockford to the Milan Steel Dam, have elevated levels of mercury and sensitive populations should only eat one meal per month. All others should only eat one meal per week. This section of the river already had advisories for all sizes of carp, channel catfish larger than 16 inches and flathead catfish larger than 20 inches due to PCB contamination.
• Because of elevated levels of PCBs on the DuPage River, from Route 6 to the Des Plaines River, advice for all sizes of carp, channel catfish and smallmouth bass has been revised to recommend limiting consumption to one meal per month for sensitive populations.
• The advisories for the Des Plaines River have been changed to include three segments of the river instead of two. The former segment from Forest Park to Lockport has been replaced with two new segments. In the new Des Plaines River segment from Hoffman Dam to Lockport, carp greater than 22 inches should be limited to six meals per year, and carp less than 22 inches and all sizes of channel catfish should be limited to one meal per month. In the new segment of the Des Plaines River from Route 120 to Hoffman Dam, carp greater than 19 inches should be limited to one meal per month and all sizes of channel catfish should be limited to one meal per week. The advice for the segment of the Des Plaines River from Lockport to the Kankakee River is unchanged.
• Channel catfish greater than 16 inches from the Illinois River, from Peoria to the Mississippi River, should be limited to one meal a week due to elevated levels of PCBs. This section of the Illinois River already had an advisory recommending that carp larger than 19 inches be eaten only once a week.
• Because elevated levels of PCBs were detected in the Kishwaukee River, consumption of channel catfish greater than 18 inches should be limited to one meal per week. This river already had an advisory on carp. Carp less than 26 inches should be limited to one meal per week, while those larger than 26 inches should not be consumed more than once a month.
• Channel catfish less than 21 inches from the Sangamon River, from Lake Decatur to the Illinois River, should be limited to one meal per week, while channel catfish larger than 21 inches should be consumed no more than once a month.

The remainder of this year's consumption advisories are unchanged from last year's, including the statewide advisory for methylmercury. The statewide mercury advisory cautions sensitive populations to eat no more than one meal per week of predator fish, which pose a greater risk because they feed on other fish and accumulate higher amounts of methylmercury. Predator fish include all species of black bass, (largemouth, smallmouth and spotted), striped bass, white bass, hybrid striped bass, flathead catfish, muskellunge, northern pike, saugeye and walleye.

Women beyond childbearing age and males older than 15 years of age can eat as many meals of predator fish as they please with the exception of fish caught from 10 bodies of water that are on the special mercury advisory and have more restrictive meal advice because of high levels of methylmercury. These include Arrowhead Lake, Devil's Kitchen Lake, Campus Lake at Southern Illinois University, Cedar Lake, Kinkaid Lake, Lake in the Hills, Midlothian Reservoir, Monee Reservoir, Ohio River, and Rock River (from Rockford to Milan Steel Dam).

Mercury occurs naturally in the environment and it can be released into the air through industrial pollution. When it falls into surface water, bacteria in the water cause chemical changes that transform the mercury into methylmercury, which is then taken up by fish as they feed on aquatic organisms.

For fish that may contain PCBs and chlordane, the advisory provides eating advice in five categories - unlimited consumption, no more than one meal per week, no more than one meal per month, no more than six meals per year and do not eat.

Anglers who vary the type and source of sport fish consumed - opting for the younger, smaller fish, and consuming leaner species such as walleye and panfish over fatty species such as carp and catfish - and who prepare and cook fish in ways that reduce the amount of contaminants can limit their exposure to harmful substances that may be found in fish.

There are several ways to reduce any PCBs and chlordane present in edible portions of fish:

• Before cooking, remove the skin from the filet and cut away any fatty tissue from the belly and dorsal areas.
• Broil, bake or grill in a way that allows fat to drip away.
• Discard fat drippings or broth from broiled or poached fish. Do not use in other dishes.

These precautions will not reduce the amount of mercury in fish. Mercury is found throughout a fish's muscle tissue (the edible part of the fish) rather than in the fat and skin. Therefore, the only way to reduce mercury intake is to reduce the amount of contaminated fish eaten.

The Illinois Fish Contaminant Monitoring Program screens fish samples from about 40 bodies of water per year for contamination from 13 banned pesticides and industrial chemicals. The program is a joint effort of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) and the departments of Agriculture, Natural Resources, Nuclear Safety and Public Health.

The fish are collected by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and tested by IEPA. The Illinois Department of Public Health bases its consumption advisories on the IEPA test results. This year's advisories are included in the Illinois 2004 Fishing Information Guide, which is available from IDNR, from businesses that sell state fishing licenses, and on IDPH's Web site, www.idph.state.il.us. Due to a printing error, copies of the Illinois 2004 Fishing Information Guide omit the fish advisory for Lake Fork Creek in the Kaskaskia River Basin. That advisory states that carp of all sizes should be eaten no more than one meal per week.