The Indiana Department of Health began warning people about the levels of mercury in the late 1970’s and have increased the warnings every year. The level of testing by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) has become more comprehensive because the Indiana Department of Health and IDEM realize the implications of mercury contamination. However there are still deficiencies in both agencies’ procedures. Table 6:
These consumption restrictions are based on a person weighing 150 pounds (70 kilograms) who eats an 8 ounce meal and has an unlimited diet of fish (225 meals per year). The levels assigned are based on a reference dose: the recommended daily dose of mercury that can be safely consumed over a lifetime. This reference dose is established by factoring in the amount of mercury in an 8 ounce meal per pound of body weight. The Indiana Department of Health’s epidemiologists extrapolate the levels of safety based on the levels of mercury in the fish and the health risk related to the types of people that are at risk when eating fish and establish separate categories for those special populations. This is why there is a separate category for women and children. Today, the fish consumption advisory includes the whole state, putting all fish (211 species) under a general advisory. However, a more detailed advisory for fish consumption is produced that specifically cites lakes and specific fish. That booklet from the Health Department lists 47 specific lakes and includes 15 species of fish.
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