CONTAMINANT LEVELS IN THE EDIBLE PORTION OF RECREATIONALLY CAUGHT 
FISH FROM PUGET SOUND, WASHINGTON 
Marsha Landolt^, David A. Kalman^, and Ahmad E. Nevissi^ 
School of Fisheries^ and Department of Environmental Health^ 
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 
Introduction 
High concentrations of organic and inorganic contaminants have been 
found in the sediments of some Puget Sound, Washington embayments, 
particularly those that are adjacent to urban areas (Malins et al., 
1982 a and b). Investigators have also found accumulations of xenobiotic 
compounds or metabolites in the liver and bile of fish (Malins et al., 
1980; Dexter et al., 1981), and in the lipids of marine mammals and 
birds (Riley et al., 1983; Calambokidis et al., 1984) collected from 
these areas. Although reports of this contamination have been widely 
publicized in local news media, the urban embayments of Puget Sound 
remain a popular fishing site for recreational anglers. 
In 1983 a study was initiated to determine the potential for recreational 
anglers to be exposed to contaminants through consumption of seafood 
caught near urban areas. The specific objectives of the study were (1) to 
identify the species most commonly caught by anglers in urban areas of 
Puget Sound; (2) to demographically characterize the anglers; (3) to 
characterize the fish consumption patterns of urban anglers (i.e. fishing 
frequency, amount of fish consumed, tissues eaten, method of preparation); 
(4) to assess the concentration of principal contaminants in the edible 
portions of commonly caught species; and (5) to estimate the quantity of 
selected chemicals consumed by anglers and their families. The major 
findings of the study will be summarized in this paper. Readers interested 
in obtaining a more detailed analysis of the study are referred to 
publications by Landolt et al. (1985 and 1987). 
Materials and Methods 
Demographic studies . Urban recreational anglers were interviewed over 
a two year period (November, 1983 to October, 1985). During the first 
year of the study shoreside anglers (n=4,181) were interviewed at fishing 
sites located along the waterfronts of four Puget Sound cities (Figure 1). 
During the second year of the study boating anglers (n=437) were interviewed 
as they returned to ramps in Seattle and Tacoma. 
Ill 
