October 07, 2026
Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice
All fish in the Wissahickon Creek basin are subject to a 'do not eat' advisory issued by the state's health and environmental departments and fish and boat commission.
State health and environmental agencies have issued a "do not eat" advisory for all fish species in the Wissahickon Creek basin after finding high levels of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, better known as PFOS, in the tissue of local fish.
Recent tests of sample tissue revealed PFOS concentrations over 0.04 parts per million, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission said Wednesday. That number is generally considered the threshold for safe consumption; when fish tissues come back with higher levels of PFOS, pesticides or other contaminants, state regulators no longer consider them safe to eat.
The PFBC, along with the Pennsylvania health and environmental protection departments, is now warning Philadelphia and Montgomery County anglers not to consume any fish they catch in the Wissahickon Creek basin. A trout stocking scheduled for Oct. 15 has been canceled accordingly. The commission will hold a public meeting on Thursday, Nov. 6, from 6-7 p.m. at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education to discuss the situation and future possibilities for trout management in the area.
PFOS is one of several thousand perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. These synthetic compounds have earned the name "forever chemicals" because they accumulate in the blood of animals and fish and break down very slowly over time. They are linked to a host of health problems and have been detected in most streams in Pennsylvania.
The PFBC did not immediately clarify if the problem had spread to fish throughout the Schuylkill River.
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