Fishing is a favorite Minnesota pastime, yet we are warned to limit our consumption of local fish because of toxic chemicals. These contaminants get into lakes and rivers and accumulate up the food chain until they reach significant levels in fish, says Deborah Swackhamer, Interim Director of the Institute on the Environment.

PCBs, mercury, and substances from household products can mimic estrogen. Exposures to these chemicals can harm children and fetuses, so mothers and women of childbearing age are urged not to eat local fish frequently.

Swackhamer is working on a model to predict how new chemicals behave in the Great Lakes and whether they will accumulate up the food chain. To best protect our waters, she believes it’s critical to stop “bioaccumulative” chemicals from entering commerce in the first place.

– Deborah Swackhamer, Interim Director of the Institute on the Environment