Water Sector News
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Good news for Michigan smelt season: PFAS levels lower than feared
Apr 19, 2024
Three years after Michigan warned against eating too much smelt from Lake Superior, scientists on Friday acknowledged the fish contain far less harmful PFAS than previously feared.
That could prompt changes in consumption recommendations about not just smelt, but other species including rock bass and sunfish also flagged for sky-high PFAS levels in waterways such as the Rouge River and Lake Cadillac.
State officials said the change comes after they discovered that liver bile found in the fish had interfered with lab tests, leading to inaccurately high readings of the so-called “forever chemicals” in fish tissue.