Environmental contaminant concentrations in biota from the lower Savannah River, Georgia and South Carolina

Abstract

Planned harbor expansion and industrial developments may adversely affect the economically important aquatic resources of the lower Savannah River, including those at the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge. To establish the present level of chemical contamination in this system, we collected a total of 102 samples of nine species of fish and fiddler crabs (Uca pugilator) from eleven sites in the lower Savannah River and on the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, and analyzed them for concentrations of organochlorine chemicals, aliphatic and aromatic petroleum hydrocarbons, and 13 elemental contaminants: aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel, selenium, and zinc. Residues of DDT (mainly as DDE), trans-nonachlor, dieldrin, Aroclor 1260, mirex, and petroleum hydrocarbons were common in fish from the lower Savannah River, but concentrations were below those warranting environmental concern. In general, the concentrations of elemental contaminants also were low; however, arsenic, cadmium, and chromium concentrations were elevated in fish from river stations near the city of Savannah, and lead was elevated in samples from the National Wildlife Refuge. Contamination of the lower Savannah River by organic and elemental contaminants, as indicated by concentrations in fishes and fiddler crabs, did not appear to pose a hazard.

Effects of Salinity on Striped Bass Eggs and Larvae from the Savannah River, Georgia

“…In addition, contaminants have been shown to concentrate in the surface film at the air-water interface (Cross et al 1987;Hardy et al 1987) and may adversely affect eggs or larvae associated with this layer. Though comparatively low, residue concentrations in fish indicate that some contaminants are present in the Savannah River (Winger et al 1990).…”

Atsdr Evaluation of Health Effects of Chemicals

“…The highest mean mirex concentrations were found in cottonmouth snakes (0.11 mg/kg [ppm]) (Niethammer et al, 1984). Fish taken from the lower Savannah River during 1985 had mirex residues in their tissues that ranged from nondetectable to 1 mg/kg (ppm) wet weight, although most residues were near 0.02 mg/kg (Winger et al, 1990). Of all the Coho salmon collected from all of the Great Lakes in 1980, only fish taken from Lake Ontario contained detectable mirex residues at an average concentration of 0.14 gg/g (ppm) (Clark et al, 1984).…”

Effects of sodium selenite on some biochemical and hematological parameters of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss Walbaum, 1792) exposed to Pb2+ and Cu2+

“…Fish have been largely used in the evaluation of the quality of aquatic systems as bioindicators for environmental pollutants (Barak and Mason 1990;Harrison and Klaverkamp 1990;Saiki 1990;Winger et al 1990;Saiki et al 1993;Kock et al 1996). The potential utility of biomarkers for monitoring both environmental quality and the health of the organisms inhabiting polluted ecosystems has received increasing attention over the last few years.…”