New Hampshire’s Department of Environmental Services has placed more restrictive fish consumption limits for all fish caught in Squam Lake as a result of high levels of contaminants found in fish tissue samples.
The agency collected smallmouth bass and yellow perch samples, which were analyzed for PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, and other contaminants. Only PCB data is available at this time.
The agency concluded that PCB concentrations in fish are high enough to present risks from exposure and their consumption should be limited. PCBs are man-made chemicals used as coolants and lubricants in electrical equipment. The manufacture of PCBs was stopped in the U.S. in 1977.
