A Field Evaluation of Mink and River Otter on the Lower Columbia River and the Influence of Environmental Contaminants
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Q N. ... / N / d,1%: : , *2 - - r - / . , O,; f; ~~~~~~- -, ~,, .F, , > U >{<XS '- -,A FIELD EVALUATION OF'MINK AND RIVER OWER ON THE. LOWERCOLUMBIA. RIVER AND-THENINFLtUENCE OF ENVIR'OMENTAL CONTAMINAN - . .- > t . l. /x4-, ,.K d ~ ~~~/F ~~~- z~ s-| l t Nf F* 5~ -L.* . -*-:.FINAL IEPORTi /- .' { > y - \~~~~~ -N j / .rn:ff )- . ' / W ' Submitted to-' / The Lowver CIumbia River Bi-State, "r Quality Program ' ' J " F-,,> - X .N>I../ Rob- ' e- ., -Chbrles .Heny' A;Grove,rRobert 6nd OlafRA:Hedstrom. * ' )' </. ' 'II Fore 'qnqRqngpland.Ecosystn8'6ibhcenterCe\! . , , ! '. ' ', . ' . , , . , / ' . t 4 ) S~~~I , -,, ,,; t> ., ., .i ' '< ' '>N'r6hlhest , , Reyseach-Station-':r.F, '. ,i,.'',,-''; i! .: '' j '. - 'O8', ' . 'O¢"- n ' 3080SE Cleby: /r rive ', . , N SI tI f, * * ,1\~~~-. < ii |? t<corvaili§,. , OR'--97333f"/tg,|, < i i '/F ODEQ -143-94, r 8 , . , .W~~~DE~ C950f08;: ,a.,, -, - :; : -, : ~febbtruary-12,j19i J /;' ; " ,_ ' /,i, 'Contracti~u~ .' , .. / ,,f' .-. ,- 1 . ,* -. ., i -Ftx , *;N fI )]., - F. , :.**, -iJ ;;4I ;;r\%';' \N-#~~~tjf40I~~v~svs~~tsrS~~l ltE<\ t < Lit 4s~ f A FIELD EVALUATION OF MINK AND RIVER OTTER ON THE LOWER COLUMBIA RIVER AND THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINANTS FINAL REPORT Submitted to: The Lower Columbia River Bi-State Water Quality Program by: Charles J. Henny, Robert A. Grove, and Olaf R. Hedstrom National Biological Service Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center 5Northwest Research Station 3080 SE Clearwater Drive Corvallis, OR 97333 Contract Numbers ODEQ 143-94 WDE C9500038 February 12, 1996 IRIVER OTTER AGE CLASS 0 _~~___ . £aQu~umiWaglt(.grarns -____......... 5.79 5.85 4.03 2.52 2.52 2.33 2.42 1.92 C EL .. -jS;EX,C'.......bC~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~......... PIU 7:.; . 5 0T28 0T2 2 0T25T25 T *. w; Reference V : jl ,, Lowe Co>!umbia River-f Frontispiece: Baculums from age class 0 male river otter from the Lower Columbia River and the ReferenceArea. TABLE OF CONTENTS page LIST OF FIGURES 4 LIST OF TABLES 9 LIST OF APPENDIX TABLES 12 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 13 1.0 INTRODUCTION 17 1.1 Background 17 1.2 Purpose and Scope 18 1.3 Acknowledgments 19 2.0 APPROACH AND METHODS 20 2.1 Collection and Necropsy of Mink and River Otter 20 2.2 Aging Techniques and Chemical Analyses 20 2.2.1 Organics 21 2.2.2 Metals 23 2.2.3 Quality Assurance/Quality Control 24 2.3 In Vitro Exposure of Rat Hepatoma Cells to River Otter Liver Extracts 24 2.4 Mink and River Otter Distribution and Abundance 25 2.5 Mink and River Otter Habitat 26 3.0 NECROPSY AND HISTOPATHOLOGY OF ORGANS AND TISSUES (RIVER OTTER) 26 3.1 Gross Necropsy Findings 26 3.2 Histopathology 27 4.0 ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINANTS INLIVER, FAT, KIDNEY AND SCAT OF MINK AND RIVER OTTER 27 4.1 Contaminant Accumulation (River Otter) 28 4.1.1 PCBs and Organochlorine Insecticides and Metabolites 29 4.1.2 Co-planar PCBs, Dioxins and Furans 29 4.1.3 Heavy Metals 30 4.2 Contaminant Accumulation (Mink) 31 4.3 Contaminants Related to River Mile (River Otter) 31 4.3.1 PCBs and Organochlorine Insecticides and Metabolites 32 4.3.2 Co-planar PCBs, Dioxins and Furans 33 4.3.3 Heavy Metals 33 4.4 Contaminants in River Otter Scat 34 4.5 Contaminants Related to Body and Organ Weights and Measurements (River Otter) 34 4.6 Contaminants Related to Liver and Spleen Parameters (River Otter) 38 4.7 Persistence of PCB Congeners in River Otters from Columbia River 39 2 4.8 Relationship Between OC and PCB concentrations in River Otter Liver and Fat (Lipid Adjusted) 39 4.9 Diet and Contaminants in Prey Species of River Otter and Mink 40 4.10 In vitr rat hepatoma cell line H411E bioassay of extracts from river otter livers 42 5.0 DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE 42 5.1 Numbers of Mink and River Otter (Late Summer 1994) 42 5.2 Numbers of Mink and River Otter (Fall-Winter 1994-95) 43 5.3 Mink and River Otter Habitat 45 6.0 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 45 6.1 Contaminant Accumulation and Spatial Pattern 45 6.2 Contaminant Concentrations and Animal Condition 47 6.3 Other Considerations 49 6.3.1 Contaminants in Organs and Tissues 50 6.3.2 Contaminants in Prey Species 52 6.3.3 Contaminants in Scat 53 6.4 Contaminants and Present Distribution and Abundance 54 7.0 CONSIDERATION FOR FUTURE RESEARCH ACTIVITIES 55 8.0 REFERENCES CITED 57 FIGURES, TABLES AND APPENDICES 65 3 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Low magnification (25X) hematoxylin and eosin stained micrographs of testes from age class 0 river ofters obtained at a Reference Area (A, river otter No. 29) and the Lower Columbia River (B, river otter No. 6). Figure 2. High magnification (250X) hematoxylin and eosin stained micrographs of testes from age class 0 river oiters obtained at Reference Area (A, river otter No. 29) and the Lower Columbia River (B, river otter No. 6: C, No. 12; D, No. 20). Figure 3. Relationship between age and cadmium concentrations in livers (top) and kidneys (bottom) of male and female river otter from the Lower Columbia River. Figure 4. Relationship between River Mile and Aroclor 1254:1260 concentrations in livers of river otter (age class 0, 1, 2+) from the Lower Columbia River. Figure 5. Relationship between River Mile and p,p'-DDE concentrations in livers of river otter (age class 0, 1, 2+) from the Lower Columbia River. Figure 6. Relationship between River Mile and p,p'-DDD concentrations in livers of river oiter (age class 0, 1, 2+) from the Lower Columbia River. Figure 7. Relationship between River Mile and dieldrin concentrations in livers of river offer (age class 0, 1, 2+) from the Lower Columbia River. Figure 8. Relationship between River Mile and oxychlordane concentrations in livers of river oiter (age class 0, 1, 2+) from Lower Columbia River. Figure 9. Relationship between River Mile and trans-nonachlor concentrations in livers of river otter (age class 0, 1, 2+) from the Lower Columbia River. Figure 10. Relationship between River Mile and PCB 126 concentrations in livers of river otter (age class 0, 1, 2+) from the Lower Columbia River. Figure 11. Relationship between River Mile and PCB 169 concentrations in livers of river otter (age class 0, 1, 2+) from the Lower Columbia River. Figure 12. Relationship between River Mile and 1,2,3,7,8,9-H6CDD concentrations in livers of river otter (age class 0, 1, 2+) from the Lower Columbia River. 4 Figure 13. Relationship between River Mile and OCDD concentrations in livers of river otter (age class 0, 1, 2+) from the Lower Columbia River. Figure 14. Relationship between River Mile and 2,3,7,8-TCDF concentrations in livers of river oiler (age class 0,1,2+) from the Lower Columbia River. Figure 15. Relationship between River Mile and TCDF total concentrations in livers of river otter (age class 0,1,2+) from the Lower Columbia River. Figure 16. Relationship between River Mile and 2,3,4,7,8-PCDF concentrations in livers of river otter (age class 0,1,2+) from the Lower Columbia River. Figure 17. Relationship between River Mile and PCDF total concentrations in livers of river otter (age class 0, 1, 2+) from the Lower Columbia River. Figure 18. Relationship between River Mile and 1,2,3,4,7,8-H6CDF concentrations in livers of river otter (age class 0,1,2+) from the Lower Columbia River. Figure 19. Relationship between River Mile and 1,2,3,6,7,8-H6CDF concentrations in livers of river otter (age class 0,1,2+) from the Lower Columbia River. Figure 20. Relationship between River Mile and H6CDF total concentrations in livers of river otter (age class 0, 1, 2+) from the Lower Columbia River. Figure 21. Relationship between River Mile, known point sources, and dioxin total and furan total concentrations in livers of river otter (age class 0 and 2+) from the Lower Columbia River. Figure 22. Relationship between River Mile and manganese concentrations in kidneys of river otter (age class 0, 1, 2+) from the Lower Columbia River. Figure 23. Relationship between River Mile and chromium concentrations in kidneys of river otter (age class 0,1,2+) from the Lower Columbia Rvier. Figure 24. Congener specific PCB concentrations (ppb, lw) in river otter scat collected from the Lower Columbia River (A = River Mile 27; B = River Mile 28-33; C = River Mile 63-69; D = River Mile 87-108; E = River Mile 134). Figure 25. Relationship between testes weight and heptachlor epoxide (top) or PCB 101 (bottom) concentrations in livers of age class 0 river otter from the Lower Columbia River and Reference Area. * ~~~~~~~~~~~5 Figure 26. Relationship between testes weight and PCB 149 (top) or PCB 1821187 (bottom) concentrations in livers of age class 0 river otter from the Lower Columbia River and Reference Area. Figure 27. Relationship between testes weight and Aroclor 1254:1260 concentrations in livers of age class 0 river otter from the Lower Columbia River and Reference Area. Figure 28. Relationship between baculum weight and pp'-DDD (top) or mirex (bottom) concentrations in livers of age class 0 river otter from the Lower Columbia River and Reference Area. Figure 29. Relationship between baculum weight and PCB 87 (top) or PCB 110 (bottom) concentrations in livers of age class 0 river otter from the Lower Columbia River and Reference Area. Figure 30. Relationship between baculum weight and PCB 203 (top) or Aroclor 1254:1260 (bottom) concentrations in livers of age class 0 river otter from the Lower Columbia River and Reference Area. Figure 31. Relationship between baculum length and p,p'-DDD (top) or PCB 87 (bottom) concentrations in livers of age class 0 river otter from the Lower Columbia River and Reference Area.