Introduction 



Contamination of aquatic resources by toxic chemicals is a well recog- 

 nized problem in many parts of the U.S. High concentrations of 

 potentially toxic chemicals have been found in sediments and in aquatic 

 organisms from Puget Sound, the Southern California Bight, northeast 

 Atlantic coastal waters, the Hudson River, the Great Lakes, and 

 elsewhere (Malins et al. 1984; Brown et al. 1985b; De Vault et al. 1986; 

 Capuzzo et al. 1987). Heavy consumption of contaminated fisheries 

 products by humans may pose a substantial health risk. This concern 

 has prompted recent studies of catch and consumption patterns for 

 recreational fisheries and associated health risks (e.g.. Puffer et al. 

 1982; Humphrey 1983, 1987, 1988; Sonzogni and Swain 1984; Swain 

 1988). 



To protect the health of consumers offish and shellfish, information is 

 needed on relative health risks associated with various edible aquatic 

 species, geographic locations, and consumption rates. In the past, 

 diverse models have been used to estimate human health risks from 

 exposure to toxic substances in food [e.g., Cordle et al. 1978; U.S. 

 Office of Technology Assessment 1979; U.S. Environmental Protec- 

 tion Agency (EPA) 1980b; Food Safety Council 1980, 1982; Connor 

 1984a; Tollefson and Cordle 1986]. In the present report, a stand- 

 ardized procedure is recommended for assessing human health risks 

 from consumption of chemically contaminated fish and shellfish. 



The purpose of this manual is to provide guidance for health risk 

 assessment related to chemically contaminated fisheries, based on 

 EPA approaches (e.g., U.S. EPA 1980b, 1986a-e, 1987a). The objec- 

 tives of the guidance manual are to: 



• Describe the steps of a health risk assessment procedure for 

 consumption of contaminated fish and shellfish 



• Define the conceptual basis for standard toxicological vari- 

 ables [e.g., Carcinogenic Potency Factors or Reference Doses 

 (RfD) for chemicals] and criteria [e.g., U.S. Food and Drug 



Objectives 



