Guidance For Assessing Chemical Contaminant Data For Use in Fish Advisories - Volume 3: Overview of Risk Management

The objective of this volume is to provide state, local, and tribal agencies with risk management guidance for developing fish advisories. Fish contamination has been recognized as a potential health hazard in recent years. While most fish provide an excellent source of nutrition, some fish are sufficiently contaminated to cause health problems (e.g., Minamata disease in Japan). The field of risk management, as it deal with fish advisories, is a relatively new and evolving area. Although a few states have long-standing advisory programs, written evaluations of these programs are generally not available. Consequently, limited information is available from which to draw conclusions or guidance regarding management strategies. Examples of types of advisories were obtained from ongoing advisory programs. Advisory program staff were consulted regarding their experiences with various management approaches. This document therefore provides an overview of risk management rather than detailed and highly specific guidance. EPA will provide more detail on the experiences and recommendations of state and local programs in future editions of this volume. This risk management volume is part of a series that provides information on: - identifying and quantifying fish contamination, - evaluating risks associated with contamination, - managing those risks, and, - communicating risk information and protective strategies to the public.