Toxic chemicals 
Numerous toxic chemicals occur in the sediments and marine organisms 
in Puget Sound. These toxic chemicals come from diverse sources such as: 
point and nonpoint discharges, storm runoff, accidental spills and 
atmospheric deposition. The results of recent studies indicate that 
several of these chemicals occur in Puget Sound shellfish, although the 
available information on bivalves is very limited. Essentially all 
surveys of toxic chemicals in bivalve shellfish tissues from the Sound 
indicate that tissue chemical levels are below the few chemical specific 
action levels established by the Food and Drug Administration. However, 
most chemicals detected in the tissues have never been assigned action 
levels. EPA is presently attempting to determine the health risks 
associated with consuming small quantities of toxic chemicals over long 
periods of time. These "chemical specific" risk assessments should help 
put the health concerns associated with these various chemicals in better 
perspective in the near future. 
Existing Shellfish Protection Programs 
Several federal and state agencies, as well as local health 
departments, play major roles in managing and protecting the shellfish 
resources of Puget Sound. The roles these governmental agencies 
presentiv play in managing shellfish are briefly described below. 
Washington Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) 
The goal of the DSHS shellfish program is to prevent shellfish-borne 
disease outbreaks. While discussions here deal mainly with bacterial or 
viral disease outbreaks, DSHS also has a successful program of guarding 
the shellfish consumer from health problems associated with paralytic 
shellfish poisoning (PSP). 
DSHS samples commercial shellfish beds to ensure that fecal coliform 
bacteria levels are at or below established maximum permissible levels. 
The fecal coliform bacteria, while not harmful themselves, are indicators 
that are associated with viral and bacterial pathogens that can cause 
infectious illnesses. The Washington State regulations addressing fecal 
coliform bacteria reflect, as do those of most other states, the National 
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