National Status and Trends Program 



Since 1984, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has 

 monitored, through its National Status and Trends (NS&T) Program, the concentra- 

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

 sediments at almost 300 coastal and estuarine locations throughout the United 

 States. The objective of the program, which is administered by the Coastal 

 Monitoring and Bioeffects Assessment Division of the Office of Ocean Resources 

 Conservation and Assessment, is to determine the status and long-term trends of 

 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), polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), 

 and 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 percent 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 data from analyses of mollusks, describes trends in contami- 

 nation from 1986 through 1990. It follows, and in some sections reiterates, a 1990 

 report (O'Connor, 1990) that described the spatial extent and severity of sediment 

 contamination. 



Additional information is available from: Thomas P. O'Connor, Chief, Coastal 

 Monitoring Branch, NOAA N/ORCA21 , 6001 Executive Blvd., Rockville, MD 20852. 



