National Status and Trends Program 



Since 1984, the Office of Oceanography and Marine Assessment has monitored, 

 through its National Status and Trends (NS&T) Program, the concentrations of toxic 

 organic compounds and trace metals in bottom-feeding fish, shellfish, and sedi- 

 ments at almost 300 coastal and estuarine locations throughout the United States. 

 The objective of the program is to determine the status and long-term trends of toxic 

 contamination in these important areas. Samples collected annually through the 

 program are analyzed to determine levels of synthetic chlorinated compounds (e.g., 

 DDTs) , polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polynucleararomatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), 

 and toxic trace metals (e.g., mercury and lead). NOAA's NS&T Program is the first 

 to use a uniform set of techniques to measure coastal and estuarine environmental 

 quality over relatively large space and time scales. A "specimen bank" of samples 

 taken each year at about 10% of the sites is maintained at the National Institute of 

 Standards and Technology for future, retrospective analyses. A related program of 

 directed research is examining the relationships between contaminant exposures 

 and indicators of biological responses in fish and shellfish (i.e. bioeffects) in areas 

 that are shown by the NS&T monitoring results to have high levels of toxic chemicals. 



This report, based on six years of results from the NS&T Program and other 

 monitoring efforts, describes the spatial extent and severity of chemical contamina- 

 tion and changes in concentrations of contaminants over the last decade. 



Additional information on NOAA's NS&T Program and related activities is available 

 from: Thomas P. O'Connor, Coastal and Estuarine Assessment Branch, Ocean 

 Assessments Division, Office of Oceanography and Marine Assessment, National 

 Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 6001 Executive 

 Boulevard, Rockville, MD 20852. 



