Does dyeing the Chicago river green affect the fish?

[dalej42]

The Chicago river was dyed green yesterday. Does the dyeing process dye the fish too? Any harm to the fish?

[yabob]

Not supposed to be harmful. It’s a vegetable dye. Hydrologists use such dyes to trace the flow of streams and so on.

[Tim_R.Mortiss]

That dye is probably the healthiest substance in that river. The fish probably see it like a breath of fresh air!

[Senegoid]

St. Patrick’s Day isn’t until March 17. Aren’t they jumping the gun a bit here?

[dalej42]

It’s the Saturday before St. Patrick’s Day. The unofficial end of winter. Huge Chicago celebration

[WhyNot]

The dye was actually used in the river first to test for illegal sewage dumping into the river. Its decorative use came later.

Also, we pretty much do St. Patrick’s Week here.

[jerry_smissingfinger]

@Tim_R.Mortiss

That dye is probably the healthiest substance in that river. The fish probably see it like a breath of fresh air!

That’s some funny shit there:D

[Ethilrist]

@jerry_smissingfinger

That’s some funny shit there:D

Particularly given WhyNot’s post just before yours…

[yabob]

@WhyNot

The dye was actually used in the river first to test for illegal sewage dumping into the river. Its decorative use came later.

Also, we pretty much do St. Patrick’s Week here.

Other sources confirm that story, and claim that they no longer use the same flourescein dye that was used then. From Wiki:

The tradition of dyeing the river green arose by accident when plumbers used fluorescein dye to trace sources of illegal pollution discharges.[72] The dyeing of the river is still sponsored by the local plumbers union.[73]

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) outlawed the use of fluorescein for this purpose, since it was shown to be harmful to the river.[72] The parade committee has since switched to a mix involving forty pounds of powdered vegetable dye.[74] Though the committee closely guards the exact formula, they insist that it has been tested and verified safe for the environment.[75] Furthermore, since the environmental organization Friends of the Chicago River believes the dye is probably not harmful, they do not oppose the practice.[76]

[gotpasswords]

[QUOTE=WhyNot]
Also, we pretty much do St. Patrick’s Week here.
[/QUOTE]

Ah, sweet home Chicago. We used to call New Year’s Eve “Amateur Drinking Night” as the serious drinking happens in March.

[kenobi_65]

@Senegoid

St. Patrick’s Day isn’t until March 17. Aren’t they jumping the gun a bit here?

It used to be that Chicago held the St. Patrick’s Day parade on the 17th (the river-dyeing happens on the same day). About 10-15 years ago, the city government decided that disrupting the city’s central business district with a parade (and much public drunkenness) on a weekday (when the 17th happens to fall on a weekday) wasn’t a good idea, and so, they moved the St. Patrick’s Day festivities to the weekend, on years when the 17th falls on a weekday.

Similarly, the Columbus Day parade in Chicago was moved to the weekend – it’s celebrated as a day of Italian-American pride, but isn’t quite the drunk-fest that St. Pat’s is.

[Tim_R.Mortiss]

I still expect to see Harrison Ford ducking in and out of that parade, trying to elude Tommy Lee Jones!

[AskNott]

I don’t know about harmful, but the Cajun joint has a special on Blackened Greenfish.