WA warns against eating some Lake Washington fish, citing chemicals

By Hal Bernton and Manuel Villa | The Seattle Times | December 15, 2022

Read the full article by Hal Bernton and Manuel Villa (The Seattle Times)

"The state Department of Health is warning residents not to eat some fish in Lake Washington and two other King County lakes because they contain a chemical found in firefighting foam and other products.

The advisory released this week is based on state testing in 2018 of 326 fish. It offers more evidence of the widespread pollution from PFAS — which stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance, and that are often known as “forever chemicals” — in some state aquifers and surface waters.

The DOH advisory cautions against eating carp, large- and smallmouth bass, cutthroat trout and northern pikeminnow in Lake Washington. In Lake Sammamish, it lists largemouth bass and northern pikeminnow; in Lake Meridian, the warning covers smallmouth bass and northern pikeminnow.

The agency had already deemed some of these fish unsafe to eat after earlier testing found PCB and mercury contamination."