*View updated Spokane River Fish Consumption Advisory*
What Are We Doing? The Lands Council just wrapped up its fifth successful season of outreach to homeless, low income, indigenous, ethnic, and other communities on Spokane River toxics. From July 2004 through September 2008, we completed approximately 2,700 surveys, distributed over 5,600 health advisories, and educated over 9,900 individuals in the greater Spokane community! These activities are part of our larger, multi-year goal of building public awareness of the health risks of PCBs in Spokane River fish and heavy metal contamination in beach sediments, reducing human exposure to toxics and protecting public health, and encouraging participation from the total community in the river clean-up process.
Why Are We Doing This? PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and heavy metals (lead and arsenic) can cause serious health problems in humans. PCB exposure, which occurs from eating fish from certain areas of the Spokane River, causes skin rashes, cancer, liver disease, immune deficiencies, neurological and behavioral complications, and reproductive and endocrine system problems. Exposure to lead and arsenic through contact with certain beach soils of the Spokane River can lead to behavior and learning problems and reduced growth in children, nervous system and kidney damage, and cardiovascular disease.
Who Are We Targeting? We reach out to homeless, low income, and indigenous communities, as well as recent ethnic populations (Slavic, Hispanic, Hmong, and Vietnamese). These folks tend to be frequent users of the river and its resources, have less access to mainstream media for health risk information due to language, social, and other barriers, and in some cases, have cultural or traditional ties to fishing and recreating in the river.
How Are We Doing This? The Lands Council employs a variety of tactics. Our dynamic outreach specialists-native language speakers in the ethnic communities- educate folks one-on-one. We spend time on the river, collect surveys, post and distribute health advisories, staff educational tables at community events, deliver presentations, put on fish cleaning demonstrations, network with social service agencies, homeless shelters, and community organizations, and participate in workshops and conferences.
What Have We Learned? We are still in the midst of entering and analyzing this year's (2008) survey data. The surveys that we've collected over the past 4 years have given us data on three communities so far: the Slavic community, the Hispanic community, and the greater Spokane community (focusing on homeless and low income individuals). A few general trends have surfaced:
• Overall river usage is rather high.
• The most popular recreation sites include Boulder Beach, Riverfront Park, People's Park, and Riverside State Park.
• Fish consumption is either decreasing or staying relatively low.
• The vast majority of survey respondents report having health concerns about the Spokane River.
• Knowledge of the contamination in the Spokane River is generally increasing or remaining high.
• Knowledge of river contamination and health concerns, however, is not necessarily changing how people use the river.
Please refer to the graphs for more details:
What's Next? The Lands Council will continue to educate the above communities, and if the demand is there, will begin outreaching to other ethnic groups as well. Environmental health staff are making special efforts to integrate The Lands Council into the social service community in Spokane. We are currently working with the Spokane River Forum to help sponsor and organize a two-day Spokane River Conference to take place in Janurary, 2009. Our efforts to make selected communities better-informed, more involved, and more vocal in the river clean-up process will resume. We will also continue to incorporate information on PBDEs (flame retardants) and dioxins into our current outreach on PCBs and heavy metals (learn more about
PBDEs and
dioxins in the Spokane River). And lastly, as we prepare our grant application for the next funding cycle, we are looking into new and creative ways to enhance and expand our outreach on Spokane River toxics.
How Can People Protect Themselves? According to the Washington State Department of Health, to reduce exposure to PCBs, (1) eat no fish from the Idaho border to Upriver Dam; (2) limit consumption to one meal per month of all fish caught between Upriver and Nine Mile Dams except largescale sucker, which should not be eaten; and (3) eat two meals per week of rainbow trout and yellow perch, one meal per week of mountain whitefish, two meals per month of largemouth and smallmouth bass, and one meal per month of brown trout and largescale sucker caught between Nine Mile Dam and Long Lake Dam. PCBs accumulate in the skin, fat, organs, bones, and juices of fish. If you must eat the fish, remove and/or avoid eating these parts. To reduce exposure to heavy metals in beach soils (found primarily between
Plantes Ferry Park and State Line), avoid muddy soil that can cling to shoes or clothing, avoid breathing dust, and wash your hands and face, especially before eating.
Important Links:
