Do Not Eat Fish: MDHHS advises against eating fish from these rivers and lakes due to chemicals

What are PFAS, the concerning 'forever chemicals?'

PFAS is increasingly being found unnaturally in water sources, food, and animals.

LANSING, Mich. (FOX 2) - Those with an appetite for fish caught in the Great Lakes should be wary of how much they consume from some of the region's largest water bodies, and should entirely avoid fish from some tributaries in Southeast Michigan.

That's the advice from the health department's Eat Safe Fish guidelines, which unveiled new recommendations this Friday.

It also provided updated guidelines for smelt consumption for specific lakes, including six serving per year in Lake Huron and one service per month from Lake Michigan. Smelt consumption for Lake Superior also comes out to one serving per month.

The reason for the guidelines is due to the abundance of chemicals in the local environment, with rates of mercury, PFAS, and other forever chemicals being detected in fish. These chemicals cannot be removed from the filet, which is the part of the fish that typically gets eaten.

MORE: Study finds PFAS in drinking water from nearly half of US faucets

There are also ‘Do Not Eat’ advisories in effect for fish caught in the Huron River, due to elevated levels of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). The advisory begins downstream when the river crosses N. Wixom Road in Oakland County to where the river crosses I-275 in Wayne County.

Fish from the following water bodies should not be eaten: