Public health officials from South Carolina are telling people to eat limited amounts of bass from Lake Hartwell on the South Carolina-Georgia line because of mercury found in the tissue of those species.
The Department of Health and Environmental Control said spotted bass and largemouth bass from Lake Hartwell have been added to a statewide advisory for rivers, lakes and coastal waters.
The advisory suggests eating no more than one meal of spotted bass a month and no more than one meal per week of largemouth bass. One meal is considered 8 ounces of uncooked fish, according to health officials.
Regulators recommend that pregnant women, women who might become pregnant, infants and children do not eat any fish from Lake Hartwell or other areas included in the advisory.
"Fish caught in the state's waters are safe to eat if people follow the fish consumption advisory guidelines," David Baize, chief of DHEC's Bureau of Water, said in a news release.
