Abstract  Increasingly public and governmental agencies are concerned about the safety of fish and shellfish that recreational fishermen consume. Fishing behavior, consumption patterns, and risk perceptions were examined for people flashing and crabbing in Barnegat Bay, NJ. Women fished in significantly larger groups than men, and their groups included more children. Subjects fished an average of seven times per month and crabbed three times per month; they caught fish on most outings, and 80% ate their catch. Subjects consumed fish an average of five times a month, eating just under 10 oz (ca. 280 g) per meal. Only 25% of the fish consumed by women, and 49% of the fish consumed by men, are self-caught. Nearly 90% of the people believe the fish and crabs from Barnegat Bay are safe to eat, although about 40% have heard some warnings about their safety. Most people heard about advisories from newspapers or television. Most subjects believe that saltwater fish are safer than freshwater fish and that fish they catch themselves or buy in a bay store are safer than those from a supermarket. People generally do not have a clear understanding of the relationship between contaminants and fish size or trophic level, suggesting an avenue for risk reduction.

Abstract  One of the potential exposure pathways of concern when assessing human exposures to environmental contaminants is the ingestion of contaminated foods. Individuals who live near contaminated sites and who grow their own food may be at a higher risk than the general population. Estimating exposures to this subpopulation requires an analysis of homegrown food intake rates. The Nationwide Food Consumption Survey (NFCS) 1987-1988 data were used to generate intake rates for home-produced foods. Results of the analysis show that, among the general population, homegrown vegetables (18%) were the most commonly consumed of the major food groups, followed by fruit (8%), meat (5%), fish (2%), and dairy products (0.8%). The intake rates for the major food groups vary according to region, age, urbanization, and race. In general, intake rates of home-produced foods are higher among populations in non-metropolitan and suburban areas and lowest in central city areas.

Abstract  Methylmercury is a known neurotoxin at high blood levels (> 400 micrograms/l) and is thought to cause neurologic symptoms at substantially lower levels in susceptible adults and infants. Given that levels of methylmercury in fish in northern Wisconsin lakes can be high (> 1 ppm, FDA standard) and Chippewa Indians take large amounts of fish from these lakes, the extent of their exposure to methylmercury was investigated. Using tribal-maintained registries, 465 Chippewa adults living on reservation were selected randomly and were invited to participate; 175 (38%) participated in the study. In an effort to characterize nonrespondents, 75 nonrespondents were selected randomly and were followed up aggressively. An additional 152 volunteers who were selected nonrandomly also participated in the study. Subjects completed a questionnaire about fish consumption patterns and had blood drawn for mercury determination. Sixty-four persons (20%) had blood mercury levels in excess of 5 micrograms/l (i.e., upper limit of normal in nonexposed populations); the highest level found was 33 micrograms/l. Fish consumption was higher in males and the unemployed. Blood mercury levels were highly associated with recent walleye consumption (p = .001). Methylmercury levels in some Wisconsin Chippewa were found to be elevated, but were below the levels associated with adverse health effects. We recommend a continuation of efforts to limit exposures in this high-risk population.

Abstract  Despite scientific attention to the toxicology of methylmercury (MeHg), little is known about population-based exposure to this compound. In this study, fish consumption and MeHg intake were estimated based on a seven-day recall survey of fish consumption among 1000 randomly selected New Jersey residents. Survey data were reported on a per-meal basis, and the fish species/dishes consumed at each meal were identified. Portion sizes for each meal were reported or estimated. To correct a possible bias due to underrepresentation of infrequent consumers, several schemes for weighting fish consumption data were investigated. MeHg concentration for most fish species was estimated from the National Marine Fisheries Service database or from recent United States Food and Drug Administration data. Commercial fish accounted for about 95% of all consumption. Mean fish consumption is estimated for all New Jersey adult consumers at 50.2 g/day (90th percentile = 107.4 g/day) and for women 18-40 years old (childbearing age) at 41.0 g/day (90th percentile = 88.1 g/day). Mean MeHg intake is estimated for all New Jersey adult consumers at 7.5 micrograms/day (90th percentile = 1.79 micrograms/day) and for women 18-40 at 6.3 micrograms/day (90th percentile = 14.8 micrograms/day). When MeHg concentrations are adjusted to account for the possible overestimation of current concentrations by the 20-year-old National Marine Fisheries Service database, it is estimated that MeHg intakes may be about 70-80% of unadjusted estimates. Based on these analyses, it is estimated that 21-30% of New Jersey women 18-40 and 5-8% of all New Jersey adults exceed their respective U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Reference Doses for MeHg. Because of uncertainty associated with the Reference Doses, exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines does not necessarily correspond to adverse effects on consumers or their fetuses.

Abstract  The USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (SR) is the major source of food composition data in the United States. It provides the foundation for most food composition databases in the public and private sectors. As information is updated, new versions of the database are released. This version, Release 20 (SR20), contains data on 7,519 food items and up to 140 food components. It replaces SR19 issued in August 2006. SR20 includes composition data for all the food groups and nutrients published in the 21 volumes of AAgriculture Handbook 8@ (U.S. Department of Agriculture 1976B92), and its four supplements (U.S. Department of Agriculture 1990B93), which superseded the 1963 edition (Watt and Merrill, 1963). Since 1992, updated data have been published electronically on the USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory (NDL) website. SR20 supersedes all previous releases, including the printed versions, in the event of any differences. With the first release of data from the new Nutrient Databank System (NDBS) in July 2001, formats were changed and fields added to improve the descriptive information for food items and the statistical information about the nutrient values. While data in previous releases have been moved to the new NDBS, they may not have been updated through the complete system. Therefore, many of these new fields contain data only for those items that have been processed through the new NDBS and it will take a number of years before they are populated for most food items in the database. Data have been compiled from published and unpublished sources. Published sources include the scientific and technical literature. Unpublished data include those obtained from the food industry, other government agencies, and research conducted under contracts initiated by USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS). These analyses are currently conducted under the National Food and Nutrient Analysis Program (NFNAP), in cooperation with the National Cancer Institute and 16 other offices and institutes of the National Institutes of Health (Pehrsson et al., 2000). Data from the food industry represents the nutrient content of a specific food or food product at the time the data is sent to NDL. The values may change due to reformulations or other processing changes by individual companies between the time that SR is released and the next update of the database. Values in the database may be based on the results of laboratory analyses or calculated by using appropriate algorithms, factors, or recipes, as indicated by the source code in the Nutrient Data file. Not every food item contains a complete nutrient profile.

Abstract  This publication contains estimates of food and nutrient intakes by individuals residing in households in the 48 conterminous States and Washington, D.C., based on data from the 1987-88 Nationwide Food Consumption Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. One-day food and nutrient intake data for 10,172 individuals of all ages were collected between April 1987 and August 1988. The data, collected using a 1-day recall in a personal interview, are provided in six tables. Food and nutrient intake data are tabulated for individuals by sex and age, region, income level, and race. For 64 food groups and subgroups, mean quantities of foods eaten per individual in a day and percentages of individuals who reported eating any food from the specified food groups and subgroups are presented. Also presented are tables of the mean intakes of food energy and nutrients; the percentages of total food energy from protein, total fat, fatty acids, and carbohydrate; and nutrient intakes expressed as percentages of the 1989 Recommended Dietary Allowances. Response rates were very low, approximately 31 percent at the individual level, and the possibility of nonresponse bias cannot be disregarded.

Abstract  This two-disk CD-ROM contains microdata on food and nutrient intakes from The Supplemental Children's Survey (CSFII 1998) to the 1994-96 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII 1994-96). CSFII 1998 was conducted in response to the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996, which required the U. S. Department of Agriculture to provide data from a larger sample of children for use by the Environmental Protection Agency in estimating exposure to pesticide residues in the diets of children. The CSFII 1998 adds intake data from 5,559 children birth through age 9 years to the intake data collected from 4,253 children of the same ages participating in the CSFII 1994-96. The CSFII 1994-96 included the collection of data from persons of all ages (1-day dietary intake data for 16,103 individuals). The 1998 survey was designed so that the data could be combined with those from the 1994-96 survey, thus the approaches to sample selection, data collection, data file preparation, and weighting in CSFII 1998 were consistent with those used in the CSFII 1994-96. The survey data files on these disks contain data from both the CSFII 1994-96 and CSFII 1998; all 4 years of data are nationally representative surveys conducted by the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The data set may be analyzed in a variety of ways: the combined 1994-96, 1998 data; the 1998 data separately; the 3-year CSFII 1994-96 data; or any of the 3 years of the CSFII 1994-96 separately. The seven data files include: household, household member, sample person, food line item, daily intake (food group amounts), daily intake (nutrients), and Diet and Health Knowledge Survey (from the 1994-96 survey only).

Abstract  A study was conducted to determine concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in local fish and to establish patterns of fish consumption of nursing Mohawk women residing near three industrial hazardous waste sites. From 1986 to 1992, 97 Mohawk women were interviewed within one month postpartum. A comparison group consisted of 154 nursing Caucasians. Samples of 348 local fish were analyzed for PCBs. The results indicated that fish in the Mohawk area, especially those collected offshore from the waste sites, had been contaminated with PCBs. The dietary data showed a greater past prevalence of local fish consumption among Mohawk mothers, with an overall annual mean of 23.5 local fish meals more than one year before the pregnancy compared with 14.1 for the control women (p < 0.001). The prevalence of consumption by the Mohawks, however, declined over time, resulting in overall mean rates of 9.2 local fish meals one year or less before pregnancy, and 3.9 meals per year during pregnancy (p < 0.001 for linear trend). Compared to the Mohawks, significantly fewer control women stopped eating local fish, and their rates declined less sharply. A secular trend was also observed in the overall rate of consumption during pregnancy for the Mohawks, with those who gave birth in 1986-1989 having a mean of 10.7 local fish meals per year during pregnancy, compared with means of 3.6 and 0.9 respectively for women who delivered in 1990 and 1991-1992 (p < 0.05 for linear trend). No such trend was apparent for the controls. No background variable was significantly related to the rate of local fish consumption among the Mohawks, but a decrease over time in the rate of local fish consumption was greater among those Mohawks who ate the most local fish initially (r = -0.76, p < 0.001), or who also reduced their alcohol intake during pregnancy (r = 0.35, p < 0.05). Mohawks were also more likely than the controls to trim the fat, remove the skin from, and fry and fish they ate during the past year. These dietary changes may be the result of advisories that have been issued over the past decade recommending against the consumption of local fish by pregnant and nursing Mohawk women. Such changes, if sustained, should reduce their exposure to PCBs and correspondingly the potential for adverse health effects.

Abstract  The environmental health goals of many Native American tribes are to restore natural resources and ensure that they are safe to harvest and consume in traditional subsistence quantities. Therefore, it is important to tribes to accurately estimate risks incurred through the consumption of subsistence foods. This article explores problems in conventional fish consumption survey methods used in widely cited tribal fish consumption reports. The problems arise because of the following: (1) widely cited reports do not clearly state what they intend to do with the data supporting these reports, (2) data collection methods are incongruent with community norms and protocols, (3) data analysis methods omit or obscure the highest consumer subset of the population, (4) lack of understanding or recognition of tribal health co-risk factors, and (5) restrictive policies that do not allow inclusion of tribal values within state or federal actions. In particular, the data collection and analysis methods in current tribal fish consumption surveys result in the misunderstanding that tribal members are satisfied with eating lower contemporary amounts of fish and shellfish, rather than the subsistence amounts that their cultural heritage and aboriginal rights indicate. A community-based interview method developed in collaboration with and used by the Swinomish Tribe is suggested as a way to gather more accurate information on contemporary consumption rates. For traditional subsistence rates, a multidisciplinary reconstruction method is recommended.

Abstract  Risks from mercury and other contaminants in fish for a large Columbia River dataset are evaluated in this paper for a range of consumption rates. Extensive ethnohistorical, nutritional, recent ethnographic surveys, and other documentation was reviewed to confirm previous determinations that the traditional subsistence fish consumption rate is 500 pounds per capita annually, or 620 g per day (gpd). Lower comtemporary consumption rates for other population subsets are also discussed. The causes of the current suppression of fish consumption are discussed and the cultural, educational, social, and trade and economic impacts of the loss of fish are considered. Action levels for mercury for riverine Tribes in the Columbia Basin are suggested at 0.1 ppm or less based on the combined risk from mercury plus other contaminants, the higher fish consumption rates, the existing cultural deficit due to loss of salmon and other stressors, the health benefits of fish, and the cultural and economic importance of fish. The goal of fish advisories is to reduce fish consumption even further, which shifts the burden of avoiding risk to the very people who already bear the burdens of contaminant exposure, socio-economic impacts and cultural loss. However, because Tribal communities often do not have the choice of giving up more food, income, religion, culture, and heritage in order to avoid contamination, they are forced into choosing between culture and health. Many tribal members choose to incur chemical risk rather than giving up their culture and religion. We believe that lowering the action level for mercury is part of the federal fiduciary responsibility to American Indian Tribes.

Abstract  Catching and eating fish is usually viewed as a fun, healthy and safe activity. However, with continuing increases in fish consumption advisories due to the contamination of our environment, anglers have to decide whether or not to eat the fish they catch. The Clinch River arm of Watts Bar Reservoir is under a fish consumption advisory because of elevated PCB concentrations in striped bass (Morone saxatilis), catfish (Ictalurus spp.) and sauger (Stizostedion canadense) due in part from contaminants released from the US Department of Energy's (USDOE's) Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) in East Tennessee. To obtain information about the demographics, fishing behavior, knowledge, fish consumption and risk perception of anglers, a survey was conducted of 202 people actively fishing either on land or by boat along the Clinch River arm of Watts Bar Reservoir adjacent to the ORR from Melton Hill Dam to the Poplar Creek confluence or on Poplar Creek within ORR boundaries from mid-March to early November 2001. Even though 81% of people interviewed knew about the fish consumption advisories for the study area, 48% of them thought the fish were safe to eat, while 38% ate the fish that they caught from the study area. Approximately 36% of anglers who had knowledge of the fish consumption warnings ate fish from the study area. Providing confirmation that people fish for many reasons, 35% of anglers interviewed did not eat fish at all. The majority of anglers interviewed knew about the fish consumption advisories because of the signs posted throughout the study area. However, few people knew the correct fish advisories. Significantly fewer blacks had knowledge of the fish consumption warnings than whites. Information resulting from this study could be used to design a program with the objective of reaching the people who may be most at risk from eating fish caught from the Clinch River arm of Watts Bar Reservoir.

Abstract  South Carolina has issued fish consumption advisories for the Savannah River based on mercury and radionuclide levels. We examine differences in fishing rates and fish consumption of 258 people interviewed while fishing along the Savannah River, as a function of age, education, ethnicity, employment history, and income, and test the assumption that the average consumption of fish is less than the recreational value of 19 kg/year assumed by risk assessors. Ethnicity and education contributed significantly to explaining variations in number of fish meals per month, serving size, and total quantity of fish consumed per year. Blacks fished more often, ate more fish meals of slightly larger serving sizes, and consumed more fish per year than did Whites. Although education and income were correlated, education contributed most significantly to behavior; people who did not graduate from high school ate fish more often, ate more fish per year, and ate more whole fish than people who graduated from high school. Computing consumption of fish for each person individually indicates that (1) people who eat fish more often also eat larger portions, (2) a substantial number of people consume more than the amount of fish used to compute risk to recreational fishermen, (3) some people consume more than the subsistence level default assumption (50 kg/year) and (4) Blacks consume more fish per year than Whites, putting them at greater risk from contaminants in fish. Overall, ethnicity, age, and education contributed to variations in fishing behavior and consumption.

Abstract  Extensive mercury contamination and angler selection of the most contaminated fish species coincide in California's Central Valley. This has led to a policy conundrum: how to balance the economic and cultural impact of advising subsistence anglers to eat less fish with the economic cost of reducing the mercury concentrations in fish? State agencies with regulatory and other jurisdictional authority lack sufficient data and have no consistent approach to this problem. The present study focused on a critical and contentious region in California's Central Valley (the Sacramento-San Joaquin Rivers Delta) where mercury concentrations in fish and subsistence fishing rates are both high. Anglers and community members were surveyed for their fish preferences, rates of consumption, the ways that they receive health information, and basic demographic information. The rates of fish consumption for certain ethnicities were higher than the rates used by state agencies for planning pollution remediation. A broad range of ethnic groups were involved in catching and eating fish. The majority of anglers reported catching fish in order to feed to their families, including children and women of child-bearing age. There were varied preferences for receiving health information and no correlation between knowledge of fish contamination and rates of consumption. Calculated rates of mercury intake by subsistence anglers were well above the EPA reference dose. The findings here support a comprehensive policy strategy of involvement of the diverse communities in decision-making about education and clean-up and an official recognition of subsistence fishers in the region.

Abstract  Accurate fish consumption estimates are necessary to determine the risks anglers face associated with consumption of contaminated fish and to assess compliance with fish consumption health advisories. Based on a 12-month diary methodology, anglers who fished Lake Ontario in 1992 consumed an average of 30.3 fish meals in 1992, of which 28% were sport-caught. When meal size was factored in, an estimated 17.9 g of fish per day from all sources were consumed by Lake Ontario anglers. Virtually all diary participants ( gt 95%) who fished Lake Ontario in 1992 said they were aware of the New York State health advisory. However, 36% of 1992 Lake Ontario anglers consumed fish in excess of the fish consumption limits recommended for Lake Ontario; 14% ate fish from Lake Ontario but did not exceed limits recommended in the advisory; the remainder (50%) did not consume any fish from Lake Ontario in 1992. Furthermore, 90% of those who actually consumed over the limit said they believed their consumption was within the recommended limits in 1992. These anglers may have believed that use of risk-reducing cleaning techniques decreased their risk sufficiently to allow increased consumption of listed species. Clarification of how risk is calculated and whether it assumes use of risk-reducing cleaning techniques should be included in the health advisory. Communication efforts should address this lack of consumers' "compliance." especially in light of our finding that most of these anglers believed that their consumption was within the limits recommended in the advisory.

Abstract  The rate of fish consumption is a critical variable in the assessment of human health risk from water bodies affected by chemical contamination and in the establishment of federal and state Ambient Water Quality Criteria (AWQC). For 1973 and 1974, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) analyzed data on the consumption of salt‐water finfish, shellfish, and freshwater finfish from all sources in 10 regions of the United States for three age groups in the general population: children (ages 1 through 11 years), teenagers (ages 12 through 18 years), and adults (ages 19 through 98 years). Even though the NMFS data reported in Ref. 14 are 20 years old, they remain the most complete data on the overall consumption of all fish by the general U.S. population and they have been widely used to select point values for consumption. Using three methods, we fit lognormal distributions to the results of the survey as analyzed and published in Ref. 14. Strong lognormal fits were obtained for most of the 90 separate data sets. These results cannot necessarily be used to model the consumption of fish by sport or subsistence anglers from specific sites or from single water bodies.

Abstract  Data on 3-day intakes of 200 commonly used foods and food groups by individuals in the Nationwide Food Consumption Survey 1977-78 are reported. The survey was conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture from April 1977 to March 1978 and included about 38,000 individuals in the 48 conterminous States. Data are tabulated by 16 sex-age categories and for total individuals. The 200 tables include the percentage of individuals using the food, the number of eating occasions at which the food was consumed, and the quantities (grams) of the food consumed by users per day and per eating occasion. Foods included in each table are explained briefly in the text. The number of eating occasions and quantities of food consumed by users are described by averages, standard deviations, and maximum values. Quantities consumed per day and per eating occasion are further described by values at seven specified percentiles.