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MERCURY IN MARINE LIFE DATABASE
Citation:
MERCURY IN MARINE LIFE DATABASE. 2003.
Impact/Purpose:
The purpose of the Mercury in Marine Life Project is to organize information on estuarine and marine species so that EPA can better understand both the extent of monitoring for mercury and level of mercury contamination in the biota of coastal environments. This report follows a similar report commissioned by the Gulf of Mexico Program (GMP), entitled "A Survey of the Occurrence of Mercury in the Fishery Resources of the Gulf of Mexico" (Ache et al., 2000), which provided detailed information on the occurrence of mercury in the fishery resources of the Gulf of Mexico.
Description:
The purpose of the Mercury in Marine Life Project is to organize information on estuarine and marine species so that EPA can better understand both the extent of monitoring for mercury and level of mercury contamination in the biota of coastal environments. This report follows a similar report commissioned by the Gulf of Mexico Program (GMP), entitled "A Survey of the Occurrence of Mercury in the Fishery Resources of the Gulf of Mexico" (Ache et al., 2000), which provided detailed information on the occurrence of mercury in the fishery resources of the Gulf of Mexico. This Gulf of Mexico Program report assessed freshwater species collected in estuarine areas, as well as estuarine and marine species. The current study builds on that report, expanding the scope to include all marine waters (Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific) of the United States, but excludes data on freshwater species collected in estuarine areas. The current Mercury in Marine Life Study can serve as a resource for environmental, fish and wildlife, and public health managers in the United States. To facilitate further EPA analysis of these data, the Mercury in Marine Life Database, prepared to support this report, is available in a Microsoft Access file developed using a geographic information system (GIS) platform. The primary focus of the Mercury in Marine Life Report is to document the mercury concentrations present in various estuarine and marine fish and shellfish and other wildlife species nationwide; these concentrations constitute only one component of the data that are required for the public health rish assessment process.