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A SURVEY OF FISH CONTAMINATION IN SMALL WADEABLE STREAMS IN THE MID-ATLANTIC REGION
Citation:
Autrey, B C., K A. Blocksom, F A. Fulk, AND S M. Cormier. A SURVEY OF FISH CONTAMINATION IN SMALL WADEABLE STREAMS IN THE MID-ATLANTIC REGION. Presented at Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Baltimore, MD, November 11-15, 2001.
Impact/Purpose:
The goal of this research is to develop methods and indicators that are useful for evaluating the condition of aquatic communities, for assessing the restoration of aquatic communities in response to mitigation and best management practices, and for determining the exposure of aquatic communities to different classes of stressors (i.e., pesticides, sedimentation, habitat alteration).
Description:
Fish tissue samples were collected from wadeable streams in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States (1993-1994). Whole fish tissue samples were prepared from prioritized lists of small and large target species. The two types of samples were analyzed for 56 contaminants, including metals and pesticides, of which 22 had median values that were above the detection limits for at least one category of fish. Data analyses were conducted in order to determine the exposure to contaminants, magnitude of exposure, and locations of sites which exceeded toxicological benchmark values. All sites from which samples were taken showed exposure to at least one contaminant. In order to determine the magnitude of this exposure, no observed adverse effects level (NOAEL) benchmark values for 16 of the analytes were used. The NOAEL benchmark values were compared to the concentration of contaminants found in small target species tissue sampled at each site. Maps were generated which showed the locations of the sites that exceeded the NOAEL benchmark values. Seventy sites (100%) exceeded at least one NOAEL benchmark value and 22 sites (31.43%) exceeded four or more NOAEL values. The number of sites exceeding multiple NOAEL benchmark values suggests a comprehensive study of fish tissue contaminants is warranted for the region.