Our Liviiiji Rcsoiines — Huimin liijhwiices 



409 



callforniciiius). and the Great Lakes zebra mus- 

 sel species (Drt'lsseini polymoplut). The six pri- 

 mary fish species monitored nationwide are 

 winter tlounder {Pleunmcdcs amcricainis), 

 spot (Leiostomus xuiitliunis). Atlantic croaker 

 {Micropogonias unditlatus). tlathead sole 

 {Hippoi>lossoides ekissodon). white croaker 

 {Geiiyoncwiis lineatiis). and starry flounder 

 (Platichthys stellalus). 



Status and Trends 



Contaminants in Sediments (1984-90), 

 Bivalves (1986-90), and Fisli (1984-88) 



Nationwide, the highest concentrations of 

 the chemicals measured in coastal sediments 

 were found near urbanized areas of the 

 Northeast (New York City. Boston, and 

 Baltimore) and the west coast (San Diego. Los 

 Angeles, and Seattle). An NS&T inventory 

 revealed that more than 90% of the coastal and 

 estuarine areas have concentrations below 

 "High" (the geometric mean plus one standard 

 deviation of all NS&T site means). The greatest 

 number of sites with concentrations greater than 

 five times the "High" ("5 x High") was near 

 densely populated areas in poorly flushed water 

 bodies (e.g.. harbors and intracoastal water- 

 ways) of the Northeast and Gulf of Mexico. The 

 most common chemicals in the inventory at 

 these "5 x High" levels were metals in decreas- 

 ing frequency: mercury, cadmium, tin. and sil- 

 ver. Total PAH was the organic compound 

 group most commonly found in the "5 x High" 

 range, a finding important to the consumption 

 of fish and mollusks taken near highly contam- 

 inated sites. According to the U.S. 

 Environmental Protection Agency. 22 states had 

 advisories warning against consumption of fish 

 and shellfish from coastal waters in 1992 (Fish 

 Consumption Database 1993). 



Mollusks accumulate many organic and 

 inorganic contaminants. Although tissue con- 

 centrations of organic contaminants did not 

 vary by species, tissue concentrations of several 

 inorganic contaminants were species-dependent 

 (O'Connor 1993). Mercury was used to illus- 

 trate the national spatial distribution of contam- 

 ination in mollusks because differences in tissue 

 concentrations are not species-dependent (Fig. 

 2). Mercury concentrations in mollusks from 

 sites with corresponding high sediment concen- 

 trations off Texas. Florida, and California were 

 among the highest measured. The highest con- 

 centrations of organic contaminants in moUus- 

 can tissues were found at sites with con'espond- 

 ing high sediment concentrations, near Boston. 

 New York City. Mobile. San Diego. San 

 Francisco, and Los Angeles (O'Connor 1992). 



Levels of silver, lead, and the organic com- 



pounds (total DDT. total chlordane. and total 

 PCBs) in fish livers have been found to be pos- 

 itively conelated with sediment concentrations 

 (i.e.. high levels of contaminants in sediments 

 and high levels in fish livers from the same site; 

 Turgeon et al. 1993). Figure 3 illustrates the dis- 

 tribution of mean concentrations of lead and 

 total DDT in the livers of fish from sites along 

 the east. Gulf of Mexico, and west coasts. 

 Concentrations of lead were highest in winter 

 flounder from Casco Bay in Maine, in Atlantic 

 croaker from the Elizabeth River in Virginia, 

 and in white croaker from San Diego and San 

 Pedro bays in California. Concentrations of 

 total DDT were highest in white croaker from 

 San Pedro Bay and winter flounder from the 

 Hudson-Raritan Estuary in New York and New 

 Jersey. 



Contamination assessments have been made 

 for selected regions and compared with sites 

 nationwide (e.g.. Turgeon et al. 1989; Gottholm 

 and Turgeon 1992; (5ottholm et al. 1993). For 

 example, mean concentrations of total DDT in 

 sediment from 213 sites, mussel tissue from 1 1 1 

 sites, and fish liver from 1 18 sites nationwide 

 were compared to mean concentrations at 14 

 Hudson-Raritan Estuary and coastal New Jersey 

 sites (Gottholm et al. 1993). Among these sites, 

 concentrations in sediments were all above the 

 national median, whereas concentrations in 

 mussel tissues were at or above the median at 

 most sites. Advisories (Fish Consunipdon 

 Database 1993) were in effect warning against 

 consumpdon of fish and shellfish collected 

 from much of the Hudson-Raritan Estuary area. 

 NS&T-sampled sites with high levels of con- 

 taminants were within the fish-consumption 

 advisory area (Fish Consumption Database 

 1993) and a health advisory area (New York 

 State Department of Health 1993). 



Fig. 1. The National Oceanic and 

 Atmospheric Administration's 

 National Status and Trends 

 Program monitors more than 350 

 sites nationwide for chemical con- 

 laminanls in fish livers, bivalve 

 molluscan tissues, and associated 

 sediments. Yellow symbols depict 

 Mussel Watch Project (molluscan 

 and sediment monitoring) and red 

 symbols depict National Benthic 

 Surveillance Project (fish and sedi- 

 ment monitoring) sites. 



