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EPA's National Reassessment of Contaminants in Fish from U.S. Rivers
Citation:
Stahl, L., J. Wathen, AND Tom Kincaid. EPA's National Reassessment of Contaminants in Fish from U.S. Rivers. 10th National Monitoring Conference, Tamps, FL, May 02 - 06, 2016.
Impact/Purpose:
Multiple EPA offices collaborated to conduct a reassessment of fish contamination in U.S. rivers as part of the Agency’s 2013-14 National Rivers and Streams Assessment (NRSA). This is the first national assessment of contamination in river fish that will utilize probability-based data to analyze trends in fish contaminant levels when compared to fish contamination results from the 2008-09 NRSA. The fish contaminants analyzed were mercury and 13 perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), including perfluoroctanesulfonic acid (PFOS). The results provide information the Office of Water may use to assess the waters and compare measured concentrations to current human health standards. This research is part of the SSWR 3.01A research program.
Description:
Multiple EPA offices collaborated to conduct a reassessment of fish contamination in U.S. rivers as part of the Agency’s 2013-14 National Rivers and Streams Assessment (NRSA). This is the first national assessment of contamination in river fish that will generate probability-based data for analysis of trends in fish contaminant levels when compared to fillet concentration results from the 2008-09 NRSA. In 2013 and 2014, field teams collected one fish composite sample per site from a statistically representative subset of 361 river locations (5th order or greater), 224 sites of which were assessed during the 2008-09 NRSA. The composite samples consisted of up to five similarly sized adult fish of the same species that are commonly consumed by humans. Aliquots of fillet tissue from the composite samples were analyzed for mercury (361 composites) and 13 perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), including perfluoroctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) (352 composites). Fillet samples from the 224 sites that corresponded to locations sampled during the 2008-09 NRSA were also analyzed for the full complement of 209 PCB congeners. All 361 of the fillet samples contained detectable levels of mercury, and all fillet samples from the 224 previously sampled sites that were analyzed for PCBs contained one or more congeners. All but one fillet sample from the 352 composites contained PFCs and 349 of those fillet samples contained PFOS. The concentration ranges measured for mercury, total PCBs, and PFOS are 8.6-1,070 ng/g, 0.06-4,700 ng/g, and 0.16-9.9 ng/g, respectively. EPA plans to complete statistical analyses of the fillet data by early 2016 and report the results at the May 2016 National Water Quality Monitoring Conference.