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PSAMP Contents
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Findings 1989-2000
PCBs
- English sole
from urban bays accumulated higher concentrations of PCBs than near-
or non-urban areas (O'Neill
et al. 1995; Puget Sound Water
Quality Authority 1995, Puget
Sound Water Quality Action Team,1998). Exposure to PCBs in sediments
is thought to be the primary factor responsible for PCBs in English
sole as PCBs in muscle tissue correlated well with PCB concentration
in sediments. (O'Neill et al. 1995; Puget Sound Water Quality Authority 1995, Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team,1998)
. No temporal trends in PCB exposure have been observed in English
sole from six baseline stations from 1991 through 1996 (Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team,1998)
.
- Urban rockfish
had higher PCBs than non-urban fish (O'Neill et al. 1995; Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team,1998)
. In quillback, brown and copper rockfish, PCB concentration increased
with fish age in males but not females from urban and near-urban areas.
Non-urban rockfish showed virtually no accumulation of PCBs. PCBs
in females are probably lost during reproduction, occurring with transfer
of nutrients (lipids) to larvae. PCB concentrations in male rockfish
from urban areas greatly exceeded a salmonid PCB effects-threshold.
Vitellogenin, an egg protein normally produced by females was measure
in male rockfish from Elliott Bay. Induction of vitellogenin was
not correlated with PCB exposure, suggesting these fish were exposed
to another endogenous [1] hormone or hormone-mimic (West et al. 2001).
- Pacific salmon
from all areas of Puget Sound also accumulated PCBs. PCBs in chinook
salmon were generally higher than coho salmon, and marine-caught salmon
of both species were higher than in-river salmon. PCBs in adult coho
salmon returning to spawn in Central and South Puget Sound watersheds
had higher muscle PCBs than those returning to Northern Puget Sound
watersheds. PCBs in chinook and coho salmon also correlated positively
with tissue lipid concentration. (O'Neill et al. 1995; 1998, Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team,1998)
. Unlike English sole, PCB accumulation in adult Pacific salmon,
a pelagic migratory species, was not directly linked to contaminated
sediments. The body burden of PCBs in chinook salmon smolt from the
Duwamish estuary accounted for only approximately 1.1% of the body
burden of returning adults. The majority of PCB body burden in salmon
is thought to be taken on in the marine phase and total residence
time in Puget Sound probably has a strong influence on PCB exposure
in Pacific salmon (O'Neill et al. 1998).
Future research will investigate further the role of residency time
of salmon in Puget Sound with PCB exposure.
- PCB concentrations
in Pacific herring, a pelagic migratory species, are high enough to
warrant use of the species a PSAMP indicator (Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team 2000)
. Total PCBs in whole herring bodies from the central and southern
Puget Sound were significantly greater than the three northern locations,
suggesting a Central Sound PCB “signal” (O'Neill and West 2001)
.
- PCBs were never
detected in Pacific cod from Alden Bank and were only detected in
two of twelve Admiralty Inlet samples (O’Neill
et al. 1995).
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Pesticides
- Measured levels
of total DDT in Puget Sound salmon tissue for the years 1989-1993
were higher in chinook salmon (mean = 22 ppb, range 6 - 59) than for
coho salmon (mean = 10 ppb, range 4 - 19). Percent lipids explained
33% of the variability in chinook salmon DDT levels and percent lipids
together with fish length explained 45 percent of the variability
in coho salmon DDT levels. Fish age and site location ( Nisqually,
Skagit or Duwamish Rivers) were not correlated with DDT levels (O'Neill et al. 1995) .
[Top]
Mercury
- In rockfish,
mercury concentration increased with age, even in rockfish from uncontaminated
areas (West and O'Neill 1995,
West and
O'Neill 1998, Puget Sound Water
Quality Action Team 1998). Urban rockfish, especially those
from Sinclair Inlet and Elliott Bay, showed greater mercury concentrations
than non-urban rockfish for a given age (West and O'Neill 1995,
West and
O'Neill 1998, Puget Sound Water
Quality Action Team 1998). Unusually high Hg in rockfish from
Foulweather Bluff, an area previously thought to be uncontaminated,
suggests either (a) there are other factors (e.g., trophic level)
controlling Hg uptake and retention not measured by PSAMP (West and O'Neill 1998)
, (b) there is an undetected source of Hg nearby, or (c) contaminated
rockfish immigrated from an urban or industrialized area.
- Mercury concentrations
in English sole were slightly higher in muscle than liver tissue and
was positively correlated with fish age, which accounted for 66 percent
of the site to site variation. Association with mercury contaminated
sediments only accounted for 14% of the variation.
- Fish age or
fish length, a surrogate measure of age, was also correlated with
mercury concentrations in muscle tissue of chinook salmon and Pacific
cod (O’Neill et al. 1995).
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Lead, Arsenic
and Copper
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Bile FAC
- Concentrations
of FACs were greatest in English sole and rockfish from urban locations,
followed by Pacific herring, English sole and rockfish from near-urban
locations. The lowest levels of FACs were observed in English sole
and rockfish from non-urban locations (Puget
Sound Water Quality Action Team 2000). Detailed spatial analysis
of PAH metabolites in English sole showed that fish from urban locations
were exposed to PAH levels comparable to those know to be associated
with reproductive impairment and liver disease (Puget
Sound Water Quality Action Team 2000) .
- Pacific herring
from Central and Southern Puget Sound had higher FACs than those from
the Northern Sound and Southern Georgia Basin(O'Neill and West 2001)
[Top]
Liver Lesions
- For English sole,
the risk of developing toxicopathic liver lesions increases with fish
age and exposure to PAHs (concentration in sediments) and PCBs (concentration
in liver tissue). - Figure 3
- Sediment PAH
contamination was highest at urban sites, intermediate at near-urban
sites and lowest at non-urban sites. - Figure 4
- The prevalence
of liver disease in English sole was elevated at four urbanized areas
in Puget Sound: the Duwamish River, Eagle Harbor, Elliott Bay and
Commencement Bay (Puget Sound Water
Quality Action Team 2000) .
- When compared
with the risks for similarly aged English sole from non-urban areas,
the likelihood of fish developing liver lesions (tumors) in the Duwamish
River was 32 times higher, eleven times higher in Eagle Harbor, and
about six times higher in Elliott Bay and Commencement Bay (Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team 2000)
.
- Relative to baseline
reference sites, the risk of developing liver disease was highest
at 2 urban bays (Elliott and Commencement), intermediate at Sinclair
Inlet and Port Gardner, and lowest at 2 non-urban sites (Strait of
Georgia & Hood Canal). - Figure 5
- At most near-urban
areas, the likelihood of fish developing liver lesions was two to
four times higher than the likelihood of fish from non-urban areas
(Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team 2000)
.
- Although English
sole may naturally develop liver lesions as they age, researchers
with the National Marine Fisheries Service and Washington Department
of Fish and Wildlife have shown that exposure to contaminated sediments,
particularly high molecular weight PAHs, is the main risk factor associated
with increased lesion prevalence in English sole. Moreover, the increasing
trend in liver lesions in fish from Elliott Bay suggests that PAH
exposure in these fish is increasing (Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team 2000)
- The risk of developing
liver disease increased in fish sampled along the Seattle Waterfront
between 1989 and 1998, though the 1999 sample did not maintain this
trend. - Figure 6. Future
sampling will reveal whether the 1999 results were an aberration or
a reversal of the trend.
- Within Elliott
Bay, the risk of developing liver disease was greatest in fish from
the Duwamish River and the Seattle Waterfront. - Figure
7.
- At sites where
there was an increase in the prevalence of liver disease in English
sole, there was also an increase in reproductive impairment – Figure 8.
[Top]
[1] Developing or
originating within the organisms or arising from causes within the organism. |
