Mid-Columbia River Fish Toxics Assessment: EPA Region 10 Report
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EPA-910-R-17-002 March 2017 Mid-Columbia River Fish Toxics Assessment EPA Region 10 Report Authors: Lillian Herger, Lorraine Edmond, and Gretchen Hayslip U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10 www.epa.gov Mid-Columbia River Fish Toxics Assessment EPA Region 10 Report Authors: Lillian Herger, Lorraine Edmond, and Gretchen Hayslip March 2017 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10 1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 900 Seattle, Washington 98101 Publication Number: EPA-910-R-17-002 Suggested Citation: Herger, L.G., L. Edmond, and G. Hayslip. 2016. Mid-Columbia River fish toxics assessment: EPA Region 10 Report. EPA-910-R-17-002. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10, Seattle, Washington. This document is available at: www.epa.gov/columbiariver/mid-columbia-river-fish toxics-assessment Mid-Columbia Toxics Assessment i Mid-Columbia Toxics Assessment List of Abbreviations Abbreviation Definition BZ# Congener numbers assigned by Ballschmiter and Zell CDF Cumulative Distribution Function CM Channel marker CR Columbia River DDD Dichloro-diphenyl-dichloroethane DDE Dichloro-diphenyl-dichloroethylene DDT Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane DO Dissolved Oxygen ECO Ecological EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency GIS Geographic Information System HH Human Health HCB Hexachlorobenzene HRGC/HRMS High Resolution Gas Chromatography / High Resolution Mass Spectrometry ICPMS Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry IDEQ Idaho Department of Environmental Quality LCR Lower Columbia River MCR Mid-Columbia River MDL Minimum detection limit NA Not Applicable ND Non-detected ODEQ Oregon Department of Environmental Quality ORP Oxidation-Reduction Potential PBDE Polybrominated diphenyl ether PCB Polychlorinated biphenyl QAPP Quality Assurance Project Plan QC Quality Control RARE Regional Applied Research Effort REMAP Regional Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program S.E. Standard error SOP Standard Operating Procedure SPMD Semi-Permeable Membrane Device Std. Dev. Standard Deviation SV Screening Value TSS Total Suspended Solids USGS United States Geological Survey ii Mid-Columbia Toxics Assessment List of Units Abbreviation Definition C centigrade cm centimeter DD decimal degrees g gram g/day grams per day L liter M meter mg/Kg milligrams per Kilogram mg/L milligrams per Liter ml milliliter mm millimeter ng/g nanograms per gram ng/Kg nanograms per kilogram NTU nephelometric turbidity units km kilometer ppb part per billion ppm part per million ppt part per trillion RM river mile rkm River kilometer sq. km Square kilometer μg/g micrograms per gram μg/L micrograms per Liter ww wet weight iii Mid-Columbia Toxics Assessment Table of Contents List of Abbreviations .........................................................................................................ii List of Units ..................................................................................................................... iii I. Abstract ........................................................................................................................ 1 Human Health Findings ................................................................................................. 1 Ecological Findings ........................................................................................................ 2 II. Introduction ................................................................................................................. 3 A. Background ............................................................................................................... 3 1. EPA’s Environmental Monitoring Program ........................................................... 3 2. Columbia Geography ............................................................................................ 4 3. Human Uses in the Basin ..................................................................................... 6 4. Past Studies of Toxic Contaminants in the Basin ................................................. 7 5. Concerns for Toxics in Fish Tissue ....................................................................... 8 B. Purpose and Objectives .......................................................................................... 14 III. Study Overview ........................................................................................................ 15 A. Survey Design ......................................................................................................... 15 B. Site Selection........................................................................................................... 15 C. Assessment Indicators ............................................................................................ 16 1. Fish Tissue ......................................................................................................... 16 2. Other Supporting Data ........................................................................................ 18 IV. Methods ................................................................................................................... 20 A. Quality Assurance ................................................................................................... 20 B. Field Sample Collection ........................................................................................... 20 1. Fish Tissue Sampling ......................................................................................... 20 2. Water Quality, Physical Habitat, and Invasive Species Sampling ....................... 21 C. Fish Tissue Laboratory Methods ............................................................................. 22 D. Data Analysis Methods ............................................................................................ 23 1. Application of Weighting Factors and Use of CDFs ............................................ 23 2. Screening for Levels of Concern ........................................................................ 24 V. Results ...................................................................................................................... 29 A. Extent of Resource Represented by the Sampling .................................................. 29 B. Extent of Fish Species Sampled .............................................................................. 29 1. HH-fish ............................................................................................................... 29 2. Eco-fish............................................................................................................... 30 C. Fish Tissue Results – Human Health Endpoints ..................................................... 31 1. Mercury............................................................................................................... 34 2. DDT and Related Compounds ............................................................................ 35 3. Chlorinated Pesticides ........................................................................................ 36 4. Dioxins and Furans ............................................................................................. 37 5. PCBs .................................................................................................................. 38 6. PBDEs ................................................................................................................ 38 D. Fish Tissue Results– Ecological Endpoints ............................................................. 39 1. Inorganics-- Mercury and Trace Metals/metalloids ............................................. 41 2. DDTs .................................................................................................................. 42 3. Chlorinated Pesticides ........................................................................................ 43 iv Mid-Columbia Toxics Assessment 4. PCBs .................................................................................................................. 44 5. PBDEs ................................................................................................................ 45 VI. Discussion ............................................................................................................... 46 A. Relative Extent of Contaminants of Concern (COCs) .............................................. 46 B. Comparisons to Other Mainstem Columbia Results ................................................ 49 1. Lower Columbia River: reach-wide Eco-fish study (Hayslip et al. 2007) ............. 49 2. Lower Columbia River: select sites HH fish study (Nilsen et al. 2014) ............... 51 3. Mid-Columbia River: select sites HH fish study (Washington Department of Ecology) ........................................................................................................ 51 4. Mid-Columbia River: select sites HH and Eco fish study Hanford Reach ........... 53 5. Upper Columbia River: select sites HH and Eco-fish tissue risk assessment ..... 54 C. Comparisons to Other Regions ............................................................................... 55 1. Mid-continent Large Rivers: reach-wide HH and Eco fish study ......................... 55 2. National Rivers and Streams Assessment (NRSA): nation-wide HH fish study .. 56 VII. Conclusions and Recommendations ....................................................................... 58 VIII. Acknowledgements ...............................................................................................