Fish and Wildlife Advisory News - January 2003

Recent Advisory News

Current Events, News and Journal Articles

• Comparisons of PBDE composition and concentration in fish - Researchers found different congener patterns of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in fish from different sites. Fish collected from the Detroit River, MI had congener patterns dominated by the 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromo (BDE-47) congener. In fish from Des Plaines River, IL, the dominant isomers in fish were the heptabromo congeners BDE-181 and BDE-183 and lesser amounts of another heptabromo congener, BDE-190, and two hexabromo congeners, BDE-154 and BDE-153. The authors identified three potential sources for these less-commonly identified PBDE congeners: (a) waste discharge from manufacturing or discarded products near the river, (b) public owned treatment work (POTW) effluents (which constitute more than 75% of the flow in the Des Plaines River), or (c) formation of these congeners by debromination of in-place deposits of decabromodiphenyl ether. Additionally, researchers found that average total PBDE concentrations in carp from the Des Plaines River (12.48 ng/g wet weight) were significantly higher than in carp from the Detroit River.

  Source: Rice, C P, Chernyak, S M, Begnoche, L, Quintal, R, Hickey, J. 2002. Comparisons of PBDE composition and concentration in fish collected from the Detroit River, MI and Des Plaines River, IL. Chemosphere 49(7): 731-7.

• Why do people fish? - The author conducted a study to examine fishing behavior, consumption patterns, and the reasons that people fish in the Newark Bay Complex. Results showed that although 30% or more of the people who fished and crabbed in the Newark Bay Complex did not eat their self-caught fish or crabs, 8-25% of the people ate more than 1500 g/month. This study indicates that 70% of respondents are eating at least some crabs even though there is a total ban on consumption because of high dioxin levels. Results of the study also showed that consumption patterns were negatively correlated with average income and positively correlated with average age. Most people listed recreation as their primary reason for angling. There were no ethnic differences in reasons for angling, although other studies have shown ethnic differences in consumption. Obtaining fish or crabs to eat, give away, trade, or sell were rated low as reasons for angling. The author suggests that these results indicate consumption advisories are not successful partly because people are not primarily fishing for food.

  Source: Burger, J. 2002. Consumption patterns and why people fish. Environ Res 90(2): 125-35.

• Trophic transfer efficiency of PCBs to chinook salmon from their prey - The investigators undertook to quantify the energy budget of Chinook salmon in Lake Michigan and determine the efficiency with which the fish retains PCBs from its food. Diet information, PCB determinations in both Chinook salmon and their prey, and bioenergetics modeling were used to generate a field estimate of the efficiency with which the salmon retain PCBs from their food. The authors argue that their field estimate is the most reliable to date because it was based on a relatively high number (N = 142) of PCB determinations for Chinook salmon, it includes a decade (1978-1988) of detailed observations on Chinook salmon diet, and it incorporated new information from analyses of Chinook salmon age and growth during the 1980s and 1990s in Lake Michigan. The resulting estimates of the study are that Chinook salmon from Lake Michigan retain 53% of the PCBs that are contained within their food.

  Source: Madenjian Charles P, O'Connor Daniel V, Stewart Donald J, Miller Michael A, Masnado Robert G. 2002. Field estimate of net trophic transfer efficiency of PCBs to Lake Michigan chinook salmon from their prey. Environmental Science & Technology 36(23): 5029-5033.

• Contaminant concentrations in fish from selected tribal fisheries in the Great Lakes - This study was undertaken to determine the concentrations of mercury, PCBs, and 17 other organochlorine compounds in fish tissue consumed by Ojibwa residing in the Upper Great Lakes region. Lake trout, whitefish, and walleye were collected from Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, and selected inland lakes. Results showed that lake trout and whitefish contained higher concentrations of organochlorine compounds than did walleye; and samples from Lakes Michigan and Huron had much higher concentrations than did Lake Superior fish. However, mercury was much higher in walleye (580 ppb) when compared with lake trout (117 ppb) and whitefish (10 ppb). Several PCB congeners were commonly found in all fish samples; these included PCBs 138 + 163, 153, 66 + 95, 118, 77 + 110, 180, and 101. Lake trout accumulated the highly chlorinated PCB congeners, whereas walleye and whitefish accumulated certain lower tri- and tetrachlorobiphenyl congeners. The authors conclude that because the concentrations of contaminants differed among species and sampling sites, it is important to sample fish that best represent those being consumed by tribal members and to continue long-term monitoring of fish from ceded waters.

  Source: Gerstenberger SL, Dellinger JA. 2002. PCBs, mercury, and organochlorine concentrations in lake trout, walleye, and whitefish from selected tribal fisheries in the Upper Great Lakes region. Environ Toxicol 17(6):513-9.

• Residue levels of HCHs, DDTs and PCBs in shellfish from coastal China - The researchers collected shellfish samples from the coastal areas of east Xiamen Island and Minjing Estuary, China and analyzed them for hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), DDTs and PCBs. The results showed that the organochlorines had accumulated in marine bivalve molluscs, particularly in oyster. The concentrations of organocholorine pollutants in shellfish samples varied with the sampling locations, the season of collection and species, but concentrations were generally higher than those in the sediments. The concentrations of DDTs in the shellfish were high when compared with HCHs and PCBs, so the authors conclude that DDTs can be considered as the typical organochlorines in the survey areas. The paper further discusses residue levels and compositions of HCHs, DDTs and PCBs.

  Source: Chen W, Zhang L, Xu L, Wang X, Hong L, Hong H. 2002. Residue levels of HCHs, DDTs and PCBs in shellfish from coastal areas of east Xiamen Island and Minjiang Estuary, China. Mar Pollut Bull 45(1-12): 385-90.

• Fly larvae in wastewater discharges as a source of contaminants for southern California fishes - This study investigated the possible accumulation of contaminants in marine fish from consumption of fly larvae entrained with treated wastewater discharge. Studies have already been done to show that fish are consuming the fly larvae, which represents a possible pathway for accumulation of organic contaminants that is unique to marine fishes near the ocean outfall. Fly larvae were present in the guts of ten demersal and pelagic fish species collected near the outfall between July 1993 and August 1998. Fly larvae tissues collected at the wastewater treatment plant contained sub-part-per-million levels of organochlorine compounds, including PCB and DDT. However, lipid-normalized organochlorine concentrations in fly larvae tissues were not appreciably higher than levels in infauna or zooplankton tissues. Based on these results the authors suggest that fish consumption of fly larvae represents a mechanism for direct transfer of contaminants and may contribute to uptake and accumulation of lypophyllic organochlorines in fish near the outfall.

  Source: Heilprin Daniel J, Phillips Charles R, Basmadjian Edward. 2002. Fly larvae in wastewater discharges: A potential source of food and organochlorine contaminants for some southern California fishes. Environmental Biology of Fishes 65(3): 349-357

• Environmental exposure to residues after aerial spraying of endosulfan - The authors undertook a detailed study to evaluate the residues of endosulfan in a cashew plantation in India after a 20-year period of aerial spray application. Three months after the last spray of endosulfan, a total of 93 samples of cow milk, fish, water, soil and dried cashew leaf were collected from a village in Kerala, India, where endosulfan contamination was likely to have occurred. All the samples were analyzed for total residues of endosulfan, endosulfan sulfate and also the potential hydrolysis product endosulfan diol. Analysis of soil samples showed the deposition of total endosulfan residues in the range < 0.001-0.010 microgram g/g, and dried leaf samples showed residues of endosulfan in the range < 0.001-3.43 microgram/g dry weight. In cow milk, fish and water, endosulfan residues could not be detected above the minimum detection limit.

  Source: Ramesh A, Vijayalakshmi A. 2002. Environmental exposure to residues after aerial spraying of endosulfan: residues in cow milk, fish, water, soil and cashew leaf in Kasargode, Kerala, India. Pest Manag Sci 58(10):1048-54.

• Sublethal effects of exposure to chemical compounds: causing decline in Atlantic eels? - The authors used many sources to hypothesize about the contribution of pollution from freshwater sources to the recorded decline in the American and European eel fisheries since the 1980s. During eel migration, lipid mobilization returns persistent lipophilic pollutants back into circulation, and the pollutants are concentrated particularly in gonads at the crucial time of gametogenesis. This suggests that the quality of future spawners leaving freshwaters is one of the prime factors for the conservation of this threatened species. The paper describes the lipid storage problems and the relative migratory capacities of the eels, and reviews the literature on the accumulation of xenobiotics in various anatomical compartments, on the biological half-lives of these compounds, and on their sublethal toxicity.

  Source: Robinet T, Feunteun E. 2002. Sublethal effects of exposure to chemical compounds: a cause for the decline in Atlantic eels? Ecotoxicology 11(4):265-77.

Meetings and Conferences

For More Information

For more information on EPA's Fish and Wildlife Contamination Program, contact: Jeffrey Bigler at US EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW (4305), Washington, DC 20460; email: bigler.jeff@epa.gov.