The same is true with us. If we eat many animals with small amounts of chemicals in them, we start to accumulate the chemicals, too. For most people, there's little health risk from eating fish. Fish with chemicals in them are safe to fish for, safe to catch, safe to handle and, for the most part, safe to eat. However, the risk is not the same for all of us.
Some groups of people can be more susceptible to the chemicals that can build up in fish over time.
To help anglers and others who eat fish caught in Pennsylvania waters understand who might be at risk and what they can do to minimize exposure, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, issue fish consumption advisories in certain situations. The advisories include recommendations to help those eating fish make responsible choices how many fish to eat and how to space meals of fish. Advisories are geared toward pregnant women, children and women of childbearing age. Women beyond childbearing years and men face few health risks from chemicals in fish, but they may also wish to follow the recommendations. Advisories sometimes suggest spacing some meals of fish out to lessen the chance that you'll build up chemicals in your body to harmful levels.