Document 9LoeZnO3d7ypY4Q5qDE4rpDgp
Inquirer 4/21/83^ -
traces again
in trout of 2 area streams
By; Bob Drogiri .'- 7InauirerStatl Wri. ter .' .V.....
parts, per million of PCBs in trout fillets from* Valley Creek, and 5.3
, For'the thirdlyear, the state De- parts per million in whole fish from
partment of Environmental Re-. Little Valley Creek. The federal Food .
sources has found low levels of toxic and Drug Administration advises
. polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in . against eating fish containing more
brown trout caught in two popular than 5 parts per million PCBs. V
. streams ip Chester and Montgomery ; David; Mashek^. DER `Spokesman,
Counties. v -
-
said the trout did not pose adiealth
Officials Said the PCB levels found hazard because the trout fiHets
in -trout from 3Vh miles of Little Val- showed acceptably low levels. "The
ley Greek and the lower four miles of .. actual.stuff you eat is 1.76" parts per
' Valley Creek did "not-pose a health- million; he said: 0 V'-y; - -
hazard, however,
The DER advised fishermen to fil-
The: PCBs were''found' in both , let and skin the fish, before cooking,
stocked and native brown trout from because the PCBs tend to accumulate,
the' two creeks, officials said. The in. organs and in fatty tissue under
Little "VaBey: feeds Valley Creek, ...the skin. y\ yy-T -
whidh empties into the Schuylkill at. The, Pennsylvania Fish .Commis-
Valley Forge. ' ' * _ * sion,stocks Valley Creek with brown
, "ftk.a real shame, because these, trout each year. The highest
are two of the last remaining natural ' levels, of PCBs were found , in older
trout streams in southeast Pennsyl- trout, because it takes several weeks
vania," said Don Knorr, a DER aquat- to several months forthe chemical 10
ic biologist in Norristown.
, , build up in the.recently stocked fish.
Knorr, sait} the PC?S had been .; PCBs have been linked tcf cancer,
.traced lo- 3 -SEPTA, railroad repair birth defects and liver disease in
yard hear'Little Valley Creek in Pao- laboratory animals. Congress has
li. The DER has been negotiating banned production of the chemical
with the railroads to cleari .the PCB since 1978, but the chemical , is still
oil from' the' yard. ' " " * /' widely used as an electrical insu] ant.
The DER said that tests showed 1.76 in transformers and capacitators. ,
PCB-ARCH-EXT0378485