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A PROBABILISTIC SURVEY OF FISH TISSUE CONTAMINATION FROM THE CONTINENTAL SHELF OF THE US WEST COAST
Citation:
LAMBERSON, J. O., H. LEE, II, AND W. G. NELSON. A PROBABILISTIC SURVEY OF FISH TISSUE CONTAMINATION FROM THE CONTINENTAL SHELF OF THE US WEST COAST. Presented at Estuarine Research Federation, Providence, RI, November 04 - 08, 2007.
Impact/Purpose:
Presentation
Description:
A probabilistic survey of environmental condition of the continental shelf of the US West Coast was conducted in 2003 by the US EPA National Coastal Assessment (NCA), with collaboration by the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service. Metals and organic contaminants were analyzed in tissue samples of bottom fishes consisting of whole homogenized flatfish, primarily Pacific sanddabs (Citharichthys sordidus), that were collected from the shelf of Washington, Oregon and California (30-100 m depth). Elevated concentrations of cadmium were found along the entire coast, while some flatfish sampled near the mouth of the Columbia River had elevated PCB levels, and some flatfish from California south of Pt. Conception had elevated levels of cadmium, mercury, selenium, DDT, PCBs and pesticides. Contaminant levels measured in some whole fish samples exceed EPA’s guidelines for non-cancer risk for consumption of four eight-ounce meals per month. However, in a subset of samples where fish tissue fillets were analyzed separately from whole fish, fillet levels of contaminants were 5-20 times lower than whole fish levels. Dividing whole fish contaminant results by a factor of 5 to estimate fillet concentrations brought contaminant level estimates in all fish fillets to below EPA guidelines, except fish from Santa Monica Bay, CA.
