Lakes with agricultural land in their watershed receive pesticide residues through runoff and drift. Some compounds break down quickly; others persist in sediment for decades and accumulate in the animals that live in and on it. This is a screening test: it covers a wide range of compounds at once, rather than measuring a single one with maximum sensitivity.

It is most useful for lakes with row-crop agriculture, orchards, or turf operations in the watershed, and for associations that want to know whether a suspected problem is present before commissioning targeted work.

What this test does and does not decide. Lake Pulse sells tests that measure what is in the fish. We do not decide whether you can eat it. Fish consumption advice is issued by state health and natural resource agencies, which set advice by species, by size, and by who is eating, and their advisory for your lake stands regardless of what a single fillet shows. Check your state advisory first, and treat these results as additional information alongside it, never as a replacement for it.

One of three fish tissue tests. Each measures a different group of contaminants in the flesh of fish caught from your lake.

• Fish Tissue Metals Test — mercury, arsenic, cadmium, and lead
• Fish Tissue PFAS Test — PFAS, including PFOS
• Fish Tissue Pesticide Screen — a broad screen of pesticide residues