The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and the Maine Department of Health and Human Services issued a do-not-eat-wildlife consumption advisory for portions of Knox, Thorndike and Unity on Wednesday.

The advisory, which applies to white-tailed deer and wild turkeys, comes less than two weeks before the hunting season begins on Nov. 1.

The new advisory areas are in addition to those already in effect, including other portions of Unity, as well as parts of Albion, Fairfield, Freedom, Skowhegan and Unity Township.

Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has been testing deer and turkeys in eastern Kennebec County and western Waldo County for PFAS and found elevated levels in their muscle tissue, department spokesperson Mark Latti said in a statement Wednesday. That is tied to PFAS levels uncovered in soil in those areas, Latti said.

The department did not state the PFAS levels in deer and turkeys, only that they are unsafe to eat.

The restriction is a consequence of Maine’s forever chemical crisis: the state had encouraged farmers to recycle sewage sludge to fertilize the agricultural fields of central Maine, but the sludge was later found to contain high levels of harmful forever chemicals.

“Over time, exposure to these chemicals has been known to increase the risk of some types of cancer, decrease infant and fetal growth, increase cholesterol levels, and impair the immune system,” Latti said in the statement.

The state issued its first do-not-eat advisory in 2021, covering a 25 square miles in east Fairfield and southern Skowhegan. Last year, a 5.4-square-mile section of Unity and Unity Township, and a 4.3-square-mile area near Route 202 in Unity, Albion and Freedom were added.

The new area is a similarly-sized portion of eastern Union, western Thorndike, and a small piece of northern Knox.

And land-dwelling animals are not the only wildlife in central Maine testing for PFAS.

This summer, the state lengthened its list of waters impacted by forever chemicals, issuing a consumption advisory in ponds and rivers in Albion, Burnham, Benton, Gray, Leeds and Wayne.

More information on advisories and the impact of PFAS can be found at mefishwildlife.com/pfas.