The state issued a do-not-eat wildlife advisory Thursday warning people not to eat deer or turkeys from two new areas of Maine because of PFAS contamination.
The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday warned people not to eat deer or wild turkey harvested in portions of Unity, Unity Township, Albion and Freedom. One area is 4.3 square miles and the other is 5.5.
There was already an advisory against eating wildlife harvested in Fairfield and parts of Skowhegan issued in 2021.
The new advisory comes the day before the state’s annual two-day youth deer hunt begins.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS are considered “forever chemicals” because they take thousands of years to break down. They are used in the manufacturing of synthetic materials such as food packaging, cosmetics, fire retardants, nonstick cookware and other everyday goods.
PFAS chemicals are thought to affect people’s immune systems, increase blood pressure, reduce infant birth weight, increase cancer risk and affect liver enzymes, according to the CDC.
The state made the recommendation after 54 deer and 55 turkeys in eastern Kennebec and western Waldo counties in the Unity/Thorndike/Albion area tested positive for unsafe levels of PFAS in their meat and organs. The wildlife was within a mile of areas that had high concentrations of PFAS in the soil from the spreading of municipal and industrial sludge contaminated with the chemicals, according to MDIF&W spokesman Mark Latti.
PFAS in the soil also gets into the water, plants and animals of a contaminated area, he said. The deer and turkey ingested the PFAS by eating in the contaminated fields.
The state has been working to address the PFAS contamination, including using more than $100 million over the last three years for testing fish and wildlife, establishing drinking water standards and wastewater sludge testing requirements, helping affected farmers, providing safe drinking water and eliminating the spreading of contaminated sludge, Latti said.
MDIF&W will work with the Maine CDC, Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to continue testing deer and other wildlife in the contaminated areas to figure out the extent of the problem, he said.
New Hampshire, Michigan and Wisconsin issued similar consumption advisories regarding deer and PFAS, although New Hampshire and Wisconsin warned against eating the liver but did not include the meat, Latti said.
