MERCURY CONTAMINATION STANDARDS 263 



would be evident long before physiological or morphological damage 

 occurs, would be manifested at the cellular or subcellular level, and, 

 if allowed to remain unabated, would ultimately cause death or 

 large-scale changes in community structure. Biochemical responses 

 are probably most sensitive at present, but behavioral and histologi- 

 cal responses should not be discounted as possible early indicators. 



7. Apply recommendations to other contaminants. With minor 

 modifications, the preceding recommendations could become 

 protocols for other heavy metals in coastal ecosystems and, with 

 additional modifications, could be useful in abatement, decontamina- 

 tion, and research programs now in progress on many groups of 

 synthetic chemicals routinely discharged into the marine environ- 

 ment. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENT 



I am obligated to fellow staff members of the Environmental 

 Research Laboratory, Narragansett, for their many constructive 

 comments on this manuscript, especially Gerald Pesch, Frank 

 Lowman, Daniel O'Neill, Glen Thompson, Earl Davey, Gerald 

 Zaroogian, John Gentile, Sandra Marburg, and Brian Melzian. All 

 opinions and data interpretations expressed herein are mine and do 

 not necessarily reflect those of the Environmental Protection Agency 

 or any other regulatory agency. 



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