Environmental Contaminants in Fish and Their Associated Risk to Piscivorous Wildlife in the Yukon River Basin, Alaska

Contaminants of legacy and emerging concern in largescale suckers (Catostomus macrocheilus) and the foodweb in the lower Columbia River, Oregon and Washington, USA

“…Concentrations of PBDEs in fish fillet at Columbia City and Longview were comparable to those measured in fish fillets in the Lower Columbia River in 2005 (Johnson et al, 2006) and higher than at most other Columbia Basin sites sampled in 2005 (Johnson et al, 2006). The ΣDDT concentrations were comparable; while PCB concentrations were within the low end of the range measured in largescale suckers by Hinck et al (2006a). Chlordane and dieldrin concentrations in our study were lower than those measured previously in largescale suckers in the Columbia River (Hinck et al, 2006a).…”

“…Previous studies have attempted to link contaminant concentrations with effects in fish in large aquatic systems, including the Mississippi River Basin (Schmitt, 2002), Rio Grande Basin (Schmitt et al, 2005), Columbia River Basin (Hinck et al, 2006a), Yukon River Basin (Hinck et al, 2006b), the Colorado Basin (Hinck et al, 2007), and San Francisco Bay (Brar et al, 2010), among others. The primary objective of the ConHab study was to sample representative members of the foodweb at sites with a chemical exposure gradient and use biomarkers to assess physiological effects of contaminants on organisms to investigate links between environmentally relevant chemical concentrations and organism health.…”

Environmental contaminants in freshwater fish and their risk to piscivorous wildlife based on a national monitoring program

“…From 1995 through 2004, the BEST-LRMN Project measured concentrations of organochlorine pesticides, PCBs, and elemental contaminants in whole-body composite samples of piscivorous and benthivorous fish from nine U.S. river basins (Schmitt 2002;Schmitt et al 2005;Hinck et al 2006a, b;, 2008. Hinck et al (2006b) determined that avian and mammalian piscivorous wildlife were at risk to mercury, but not organochlorine pesticides or PCBs, in northern pike (Esox lucius), longnose sucker (Catostomus catostomus), and burbot (Lota lota) from the Yukon River Basin. However, the risk of chemical contaminants to piscivorous wildlife that live and forage at BEST-LRMN sites in the conterminous United States has not been evaluated.…”

“…Although these assessments are usually applied locally to assess specific sites, they have been used in regional assessments. For example, Yeardley et al (1998) examined the risk of mercury to wildlife in northeastern U.S. lakes, and Hinck et al (2006b) determined the risk of contaminant exposure to avian and mammalian receptors in the Yukon River Basin. Our objectives were (1) to provide summary statistics for organochlorine chemical residues and elemental contaminants measured by the BEST-LRMN Project and (2) to screen for contaminants that represent a risk to bald eagle and mink and identify the areas where the risk to these receptors was greatest.…”

“…Our objectives were (1) to provide summary statistics for organochlorine chemical residues and elemental contaminants measured by the BEST-LRMN Project and (2) to screen for contaminants that represent a risk to bald eagle and mink and identify the areas where the risk to these receptors was greatest. The wildlife risk analysis data from Hinck et al (2006b) were updated in this paper to provide results for all BEST-LRMN samples. These results were then compared to site specific studies to determine if piscivorous wildlife had previously been identified as at risk to contaminant exposure.…”