Beware of Eating Fish From These Maine Bodies of Water

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention issued advisories on Thursday concerning eating fish found in 7 freshwater bodies of water in the State of Maine.

Seven bodies of water in the state were found to contain PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), man-made chemicals that have been known to cause disease and cancer in humans. Fish were collected and tested at these various sites and were found to contain elevated levels of PFAS that the Maine CDC has deemed too high for regular consumption.

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Careful of consuming fish from these spots in Maine

Here are the locations that the Maine CDC has issued new advisories on:

Places in Maine where you should not eat any fish from

Fairfield (two locations)

• Police Athletic League (PAL) Ponds; do not eat any species of fish from this body of water.
• Fish Brook, which includes tributaries from the 'headwaters to the confluence with the Messalonskee Stream'; do not eat any species of fish from these bodies of water.

Places in Maine where you should not consume more than three meals per year/ do not consume certain species of fish

Waterville/Oakland

• Dam in Oakland to the Automatic Dam in Waterville; do not consume more than three meals per year of any fish species.

Sanford

• The Mousam River from below the Number One Pond Dam to Outlet Dam on Estes Lake, including all of Estes Lake; do not consume more than three meals per year of any fish species.

Limestone

• All of Durepo Pond and Limestone Stream from Durepo to the dam near Route 229 in Limestone; do not consume more than three meals per year of brook trout and do not eat smallmouth bass.

Places in Maine where you should not consume more than four meals per year

Westbrook

• The Presumpscot River from Saccarappa Falls in Westbrook to Presumpscot Falls in Falmouth; do not consume more than four meals per year of any fish species.

Places in Maine where you should not consume more than six meals per year/ twelve meals per year

Unity

• Unity Pond; do not consume more than six meals per year of black crappie; do not consume more than twelve meals per year of all other fish species.

These seven locations may be the first on the list since more investigating into PFAS in Maine soil and waterways is being conducted. While consuming fish caught at these locations has advisories issued, swimming, boating, and fishing remain safe to do.

For more information on PFAS in Maine, check out the Maine Department of Environmental Protection website at Maine.gov.