You are here: DOH Home » EH  » OEHA » Fish Facts » Advice for Women & Children

• Environmental Health Assessments

• What's New

Got a Minute?

    Fish Facts Home

• Advice for Women & Children

• Healthy Fish Eating Guide

• Fish Consumption Advisories in WA

• Mercury Advisory

• Puget Sound Advisory

• Health Benefits of Fish

• Angler Wayne's Fish Fillet Demonstration

• FAQs

• Questions? Ask our DOH Fish Team

• Public Resources

    Fact Sheets

    Brochures

    Publications

    Outside Links

Advice For Women and Children

Being wise about the fish you eat today helps protect your baby of tomorrow.   

If you are planning to become pregnant, are pregnant, nursing, or have children, you and your children are more sensitive to contaminants that can be present in fish. 

In the womb and in the first six years after birth, children undergo extraordinary cell growth, from brain neurons to immune cells, so there are more opportunities for toxic compounds to disrupt the cells. 

Animal tests show that fetuses and newborns are the most susceptible to harm from many chemicals.  Women in their childbearing years should realize that it may take years to lower levels of PCBs in your body and many months to significantly reduce your body burden of mercury.  See DOH advice about eating fish with mercury in it.

DOH Home | Access Washington | Privacy Notice | Disclaimer/Copyright Information

Washington State Department of Health 
Division of Environmental Health
Office of Environmental Health Assessments
PO Box 47846 Olympia, Washington, 98504-7846
1.877.485.7316

Send inquiries about DOH and its programs to the Health Consumer Assistance Office
Comments or questions regarding this web site? Send mail to the  Office of Environmental Health Assessments.