Why is EPA interested in dioxins in San Francisco Bay?
In 1994, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) issued a fish consumption advisory for San Francisco Bay due to the presence of pollutants in fish, including dioxins. It has been recognized and documented (San Francisco Bay Seafood Consumption Study, March 2001, San Francisco Estuary Institute and California Department of Health Services) that some Bay Area residents consume fish from the Bay for subsistence. The Seafood Consumption Study found that one in ten of these consumers eats more than the recommended amount of fish. Among ethnic groups, Asians stand out as a group at risk because they consume large numbers of fish and often eat parts of the fish, like skin and organs, which concentrate pollutants. As a result of the OEHHA advisory, the Bay was listed in 1999 under section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act as a water body that fails to meet water quality standards for dioxins. This listing requires EPA and California’s Water Quality Control Boards t
