Don’t-eat Advisory For Lakes Sammamish, Washington Largies

State health officials are advising anglers and the general public not to eat any largemouth from two big Seattle-area fisheries.

The warning was issued for Lakes Washington and Sammamish after the Washington Department of Health found perfluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS, in sampled bass.

Most anglers release largies, a popular nonnative gamefish found throughout the region.

The PFOS don’t-eat advisory also extends to native cutthroat trout and introduced smallmouth bass in Washington, and smallies in Lake Meridian.

There are also new meal restrictions recommended for largemouth and native kokanee in Meridian, and introduced yellow perch in Sammamish and brown bullhead in Washington.

Per DOH, PFOS belong to a chemical family “known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), sometimes called ‘forever chemicals.'”

A Seattle Times story says the chemicals were a “mainstay of firefighting foam for decades” before being replaced. The newspaper’s piece describes the testing procedures and more in more detail and is worth reading.

Health officials say that there’s evidence PFAS-family chemicals can mess with your immune system and increase risk of kidney and other cancers and thyroid disease, among other effects.

The new advisories come on top of pre-existing ones centered around PCBs and mercury.