The quantities and forms of heavy metals, halogenated 

 hydrocarbons, and petroleum hydrocarbons are being determined, 

 especially at the air-sea interface and in the coastal regions where 

 they" enter the marine environment. Special attention is directed 

 toward the concentration and dispersal of pollutants through 

 estuaries to continental shelf waters. Preliminary findings suggest 

 that atmospheric transport is an important pathway for open ocean 

 pollution. For example, 12 trace metals, petroleum, and chlorinated 

 hydrocarbons have been detected in the air and water of the North 

 Atlantic. Mercury, cadmium, and lead have also been found in water 

 and biota. 



Laboratory and field studies to test the effects of metals, 

 petroleum, and chlorinated hydrocarbons on marine life were 

 started in 1973. Laboratory field work will analyze the effects of 

 pollutants on the behavior and life processes of individual classes of 

 organisms such as bacteria, enzymes, phytoplankton, zooplankton, 

 and higher marine organisms. 



Field projects will observe the low-level and long-term effects of 

 pollutants on the stability of natural plankton communities in water 

 columns trapped in plastic enclosures placed in Saanich Inlet, a fjord 

 in British Columbia, Canada. Testing of 1/4-scale models of the 

 plastic enclosures (10 by 30 meters] indicate that the full-scale 

 versions will withstand the rigors of the Saanich Inlet and will 

 contain bacteria, phytoplankton, and microzooplankton identical to 

 those in the natural environment. The effects of pollutants on these 

 plankton communities will be assessed by subjecting one of the 

 enclosures to low levels of pollutants over long periods and 

 comparing the effects on these organisms with those on the plankton 

 communities in other bags kept in their natural states. 



The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) marine research 

 program is aimed at the establishment of water quality criteria and 

 providing information to abate contamination of the marine 

 environment. 



EPA's National Marine Water Quality Laboratory in 

 Narragansett, Rhode Island, is developing culture, rearing, and 

 holding techniques to produce quality-controlled marine organisms 

 for experimental use and an ecological studies system for field 

 validation of laboratory results. It is also preparing biological 

 criteria in support of legal standards for dissolved oxygen, 

 temperature, and salinity. In toxicology studies the laboratory has 

 emphasized work on biological methods for water quality 

 assessment and the determination of acute levels of heavy materials, 

 petrochemicals, and other materials hazardous to marine organisms. 

 Recent accomplishments of the laboratory program have been the 

 completion of a study on the effects of Nitrilotriacetate, a 



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