2009 National Forum on Contaminants in Fish

Portland, Oregon, November 2–5

Welcome
Agenda
Registration
Hotel
Posters
Contacts

Update:

The 2009 National Forum on Contaminants in Fish will include presentations on:

Regional Issues with a focus on the Northwest Region
Sampling and analysis issues
Emerging Contaminants
Risk Assessment and Toxicology
Risk Communications
Risks and Benefits

Specific details on presentations and links to individual PowerPoint presentations presented at this year's Forum can be found under the Agenda tab on this page.

Welcome!

You are invited to attend the 10th National Forum on Contaminants in Fish on November 2–5, 2009, in Portland, Oregon.

This event brings together public health and environmental professionals from governmental agencies, industry, environmental and health advocacy groups and other interested parties to discuss the many issues related to the risks and benefits of fish consumption.

Who should attend?

Health and environmental officials from state, tribal, and federal agencies and others interested in discussing issues related to assessing, managing and communicating health risks and benefits associated with fish consumption.

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Photo of rainbow trout with red sockeye salmon courtesy of US Fish & Wildlife Service

Final Agenda

Print Version (PDF) (6 pp, 77.6K)

Monday, November 2, 2009
8:00-8:30	Welcome United States Environmental Protection Agency Evelyn Washington, Associate Director Standards and Health Protection Division Office of Science and Technology Oregon Department of Human Services Gail R. Shibley, Administrator Office of Environmental Public Healt Oregon Department of Human Services
	Regional Issues: Focus on the Northwest Region Moderator: Amy Kyle, University of California, Berkeley
8:30-8:40	Introduction
8:40-9:05	Reducing Toxics in Fish in the Columbia River Basin Mary Lou Soscia, U.S. EPA, Region 10
9:05-9:30	Fish Consumption Rates in Oregon Kathleen Feehan, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation DNR
9:30-9:55	Toxic Pollutant Reduction Initiative of Oregon Jennifer Wigal, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
9:55-10:15	Break
	Regional Issues: Focus on the Northwest Region (continued)
10:15-10:40	Evaluation of Contaminants in Puget Sound Fish and Resulting Fish Advisory Joan Hardy, Washington State Department of Health
10:40-11:05	Overview of Freshwater Fish Tissue Contaminant Monitoring in Washington State Dale Norton, Washington State Department of Ecology
11:05-11:30	Update on Washington State’s Fish Advice and Healthy Fish Guide Liz Carr, Washington State Department of Health
11:30-11:55	n-3 Fatty Acid Intake and Longitudinal Mercury Exposure from Fish Consumption within the Japanese and Korean Communities Ami Tsuchiya, University of Washington
11:55-1:10	Lunch (on your own)
	Sampling and Analysis Moderator: Robert Duff, Washington State Department of Ecology
1:10-1:20	Introduction
1:20-1:45	Results of the EPA Pilot Study of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products in Fish Tissue John Wathen, Office of Science and Technology, Office of Water, U.S. EPA
1:45-2:10	Review of the National Lakes Fish Tissue Study Final Report Leanne Stahl, Office of Science and Technology, Office of Water, U.S. EPA
2:10-2:35	National Survey of Mercury in Fish, Bed Sediment, and Water from Streams Barbara Scudder, U.S. Geological Survey
2:35-3:00	Environmental Contaminants: Regional Trends in Alaskan Fishes Robert Gerlach, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation
3:00-3:25	Hair Mercury Biomonitoring Results from Alaska and Hawaii – Demonstrating the Value of Local Fish Consumption Advice Lori Verbrugge, Alaska Division of Public Health Barbara Brooks, Hawaii Department of Health
3:25-3:45	Break
	Sampling and Analysis (continued)
3:45-4:30	Study of Mercury and PCBs in Asian Market Fish: A Response to Results from Mercury Biomonitoring in New York City Wendy McKelvey, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Tissue Analysis for Mercury and PCBs from a New York City Commercial Seafood Market Moses Chang, U.S. EPA, Region 2
4:30-4:55	Mercury Cycling in the North Pacific Ocean: Implications on Fisheries Elsie Sutherland, Harvard University
4:55-5:20	A Comparison of Non-lethal Techniques for the Measurement of Mercury in Fish Tissue Kristopher Rolfhus, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
7:00-9:00	Social and Poster Displays
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
	Risk Assessment and Toxicology Moderator: Randall Manning, Georgia Department of Natural Resources
8:00-8:10	Introduction
8:10-8:35	Updates to Michigan’s Fish Screening Levels Using Reference Doses, Starting with Toxaphene Jennifer Gray, Michigan Department of Community Health
8:35-9:15	Toxicology of Perfluoroalkyl Acids Christopher Lau, Office of Research and Development, U.S. EPA
9:15-9:40	U.S. EPA’s Provisional Health Advisory Values for PFOA and PFOS Joyce Donohue, Office of Science and Technology, Office of Water, U.S. EPA
9:40-10:05	Comparability and Standardization of Methods for PFC Analysis in Fish Fillets Michelle Malinsky, 3M Environmental Laboratory
10:05-10:25	Break
	Risk Assessment and Toxicology (continued)
10:25-10:30	PFCs in Fish – Introduction and Survey Results Randall Manning, Georgia Department of Natural Resources
10:30-11:45	PFCs in Fish – Data Presentations Followed by Questions and Answers Panel Discussion Minnesota and Wisconsin Data, Minnesota Fish Consumption Advisory Pat McCann, Minnesota Department of Health Southeast Data Neil Sass, Alabama Department of Public Health Washington Data Chad Furl, Washington State Department of Ecology Delaware River Basin Commission Data Thomas Fikslin, Delaware River Basin Commission
11:45-11:55	Remembering Kate Mahaffey
11:55-1:05	Lunch (on your own)
	Plenary Presentation
1:05-1:30	Update on U.S. EPA Dioxin Reassessment Rita Schoeny, Office of Water, U.S. EPA
	Risk Communication Moderator: Robert Brodberg, California Environmental Protection Agency
1:30-1:40	Introduction
1:40-2:05	A Qualitative Study of How Women Make Meaning of Contradictory Media Messages about the Risks of Eating Fish Jennifer Vardeman-Winer, University of Houston
2:05-2:30	Fishers Weigh In: Benefits and Risks of Eating Great Lakes Fish from the Consumer’s Perspective Judy Sheeshka, University of Guelph
2:30-2:55	Communicating Advisories on the Risk of Mercury in Fish to the Chinese-Canadian Community Maxine Fung, University of Guelph
2:55-3:15	Break
3:15-3:40	Qualitative Evaluation of Sport Fish Consumption Advisories in California and Strategies for Effective Communication Alyce Ujihara, California Department of Public Health
3:40-4:05	Exploring the Potential of a Point System for Communicating Fish Consumption Guidance Chung Nim Ha, Alaska Division of Public Health
4:05-4:30	Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of Risk-Based Fish Consumption Advice for Anishinaabe in Northern Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota Jeffery Foran, EHSI, LLC; University of Illinois-Chicago
4:30-4:55	Development, Validation and Dissemination of a Seafood Safety Wallet Card Charles Santerre, Purdue University
4:55-5:20	New Media Risk Messaging: From Brochures to Blogs Lars Ullberg
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
	Special Plenary Presentation
8:00-8:30	Can We Maximize Nutritional Intake While Minimizing Toxic Risk from Fish Consumption? An Update of Our Knowledge on Mercury and Omega-3 Fatty Acids from Marine and Freshwater Fish Consumption Donna Mergler, University of Quebec
	Risks and Benefits Moderator: Henry Anderson, Wisconsin Department of Health and Human Services
8:30-8:40	Introduction
8:40-9:05	Approach for Assessing Mercury Risks and Omega-3 Fatty Acid Benefits in Developing Fish Consumption Advice Gary Ginsberg, Connecticut Department of Public Health
9:05-9:30	Quantitative Approach to Methylmercury-Omega-3 Risk Benefit Analysis Based on Joint Regression in Population-Based Studies Alan Stern, Division of Science, Research, and Technology, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
9:30-9:55	Composite Benefit-Risk and Dose Curve for Fish Consumption: Mercury versus Beneficial Nutrients Michael Gochfeld, CRESP-Environmental and Occupation Health Sciences Institute, New Jersey
9:55-10:20	Recent Advances in Our Knowledge of Mercury and Selenium on Human Health Melanie LeMire, University of Quebec
10:20-10:45	Omega-3 Fatty Acid Levels in Fish: Data Quality, Quantity, and Future Needs Bruce Holub, University of Guelph
10:45-11:05	Break
	Risks and Benefits (continued)
11:05-12:05	Quantitative Approaches to Methylmercury-Omega-3 Risk Benefit Approaches to Fish Consumption Advisories – Questions and Answers Panel Discussion Gary Ginsberg, Alan Stern, Michael Gochfeld, Melanie LeMire, Bruce Holub, Henry Anderson
12:05-1:10	Lunch (on your own)
1:10-1:15	Debate – Are fish advisory programs effective? Introduction Ibrahim Goodwin, Office of Science and Technology, U.S. EPA
1:15-2:25	Debate – Are federal/state fish advisory programs effective in protecting public health as an interim measure until the nation’s waters are restored to fishable status? Moderator: John W. Davis, II, JD, Debate Solutions West team: Gordon Stables, Coach, and Marilyn Katzman, Debator, University of Southern California Anjali Vats, Coach, and Zach Tschida, Debator, University of Puget Sound East team: Paul Harold, Coach, and Tripp Rebrovick, Debator, Harvard University Tim O’Donnell, Coach, and Ben Saunders, Debator, University of Mary Washington
2:25-2:40	Break
	Risk Management Moderator: Brian Toal, Connecticut Department of Public Health
2:40-2:50	Introduction
2:50-3:15	Consistent Interstate Advisories: A Risk Management Exercise Eric Frohmberg, Center for Disease Control and Prevention/Department of Health and Human Services
3:15-3:40	The Risk of Cancer Risk Assessments for Fish Consumption Advisories Dave Stone, Oregon State University
3:40-4:05	Are Lake Trout, Salvelinus namaycush, from Flathead Lake, MT “Safe” to Eat? Katie McDonald, Salish Kootenai College
4:05-4:30	Risk Management: When Benefits are at Risk Bruce Hope, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
4:30-4:55	Comparative Analysis of State Fish Consumption Advisories Targeting Sensitive Populations Elaine Faustman, University of Washington
4:55-5:15	Closing Remarks General Forum Moderators: Denise Hawkins, Office of Science and Technology, Office of Water, U.S. EPA Deanna Conners, Oregon Department of Human Services
Thursday, November 5, 2009
	State and Tribal Regional Work Groups Topics of Interest to Group Members
8:30-11:30	State and Tribal Regional Work Groups

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Photo of view of Ecola State Park, Oregon, courtesy of NOAA

Registration

Register for the conference. Registration information is collected by 123Signup and HCD International on behalf of RTI International under contract with U.S. EPA.

Registration deadline: October 15, 2009

Registration pricing:

Registrant type	Activity	Price
General	2009 National Forum on Contaminants in Fish Registration	US$ 50.00
Federal Employee or Speaker	2009 National Forum on Contaminants in Fish Registration	US$ 50.00
Speaker/Moderator	2009 National Forum on Contaminants in Fish Registration	US$ 0.00
Designated Program Manager	2009 National Forum on Contaminants in Fish Registration	US$ 0.00
Conference Staff	2009 National Forum on Contaminants in Fish Registration	US$ 0.00

Registrant type

Activity

Price

General