Deer and turkey hunters have been warned to throw out their kills or risk exposing themselves to dangerous toxins.
Wildlife officials in Maine have expanded the area included in an advisory where they’ve discovered concerning levels of forever chemicals known as PFAS in whitetail deer and wild turkeys.
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are substances found in plastics, non-stick appliances and water-resistant fabrics that have been linked to health problems, including cancer, infertility and low birth weight in newborns.
The new advisory will now cover an additional 10 square miles across Unity Township, Freedom, Skowhegan, Fairfield and Albion in southern Maine.
The advisory went into effect Thursday, just before the fall hunting season begins on November 2, though the annual hunting season opened in late August.
The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) said the deer and turkeys – two of the most popular game animals in the state – had levels of PFAS in their muscle tissue that warranted the this advisory.
The update is based on the testing of 54 whitetail deer and 55 wild turkeys.
The MDIFW said: ‘The advisory areas encompass areas that have been contaminated by high levels of PFAS through the spreading of municipal and/or industrial sludge that contained PFAS.’
Hunters in Maine have been warned not to eat whitetail deer due to high concentrations of forever chemicals found in their systems
‘Deer and turkey feeding in these contaminated areas have ingested these chemicals and now have PFAS in their meat and organs,’ the agency added.
Maine’s IFW department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began testing the local wildlife for signs of PFAS after they found high levels in the soil during routine testing.
‘The new advisory areas are a result of extensive wildlife sampling in the eastern Kennebec and western Waldo counties in order to examine the impact of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on wildlife in the area,’ the department wrote in a Facebook post.
The departments explained the ‘Do Not Eat’ advisory doesn’t necessarily mean all the turkeys and deer contain PFAS or that people who eat the meat become ill.
‘However, if the game was harvested from the advisory area, we recommend no longer eating the meat or organs,’ the MDIFW said.
‘Your risk of any health effects will depend on how much game from this area you have eaten, and how many years you have harvested deer or wild turkey from this area.’
PFAS are human-made chemicals primarily found in plastics, waterproof clothing, upholstery and food containers.
The chemicals seep into the soil from manufacturing plants and can also enter the water supply and pollute the air.
They’ve been named forever chemicals because they don’t break down and can persist in the environment and the body for decades.
PFAS can also build up over time in the blood and organs of wild game and fish.
Wild Turkeys are also on the ‘Do Not Eat’ advisory because consuming the chemicals can lead to an increased risk of cancer or low birth weight in newborns
High levels of these chemicals found in humans have been linked to increased cholesterol, risk of high blood pressure or pre-eclampsia in pregnant women and an increased risk of kidney or testicular cancer.
Investigations into PFAS contamination in wildlife began in 2016 when high levels of the forever chemicals were found in milk at a dairy farm in Arundel, Maine.
High levels were once again detected at two dairy farms in Fairfield in 2020, approximately 105 miles from the first site.
This prompted wildlife officials to start testing the soil throughout the state as well as sludge and septage from septic systems.
In 2021, a ‘Do Not Eat’ advisory was issued across 125 square miles in Somerset County after PFAS was found in five out of eight deer tested. The warning still remains in place.
Although the newest advisory only applies to deer and turkey, officials are also warning people against eating freshwater fish.
‘Fish tested in several waterbodies within and nearby the ‘Do Not Eat’ advisory area have been found to have levels of PFAS above Maine CDC’s recommended levels for regular consumption,” MDIFW warned.
The affected waterways include Kennebec River and Fish Brook in Fairfield, Unity Pond and Halfmoon Stream in Unity township.