RELEVANCE OF THE NATIONAL "MUSSEL WATCH" PROGRAM TO SEAFOOD FISHERIES MANAGEMENT ISSUES DURING OIL SPILL RESPONSE

Alan J. Mearns Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/iosc/article-pdf/1999/1/701/1751191/2169-3358-1999-1-701.pdf by guest on 24 September 2021 Hazardous Materials Response and Assessments Division National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 7600 Sand Point Way, N.E. Seattle, 98115

Thomas P. O'Connor and Gunnar G. Lauenstein National Status and Trends Program National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration East-West Highway Silver Spring, 20910

ABSTRACT: Concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocar- sources include urban runoff, atmospheric deposition, wastewater bons in U.S. coastal mussels and oysters sampled in 1995 and discharges and, very likely, numerous small un-reported fuel and 1996 range 500-fold, from about 8 parts per billion (ppb) wet oil spills. In evaluating criteria for closing and re-opening seafood weight (ww) in mussels from a site in the Southern to fisheries, and for bringing to close the response phase of an oil over 3,000 ppb ww in oysters from several Gulf Coast spill, the question is not only "When will the seafood be clean?" embayments; the U.S. national mean concentration for 258 sites but also "When will they be clean enough, relative to back- was about 140 ppb ww or about 700 ppb dry weight (dw). ground?" Regions with the lowest background concentrations (less than 30 This paper reviews data on the contamination of U.S. coastal ppb ww) include , the open coast of California and western shellfish by PAHs. PAHs are a group of several dozen of low-, . Sites with the highest background concentrations medium- and high-molecular weight natural aromatic compounds (greater than 1000 ppb ww) include many urban and rural common in oils, fuels, and combustion products (Table 1). They harbors and regions such as Puget Sound. On a nationwide basis include low-molecular weight compounds such as naphthalenes there are no longterm decreases or increases in shellfish which are soluble and volatile, but acutely toxic, and other high- polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations despite molecular weight compounds, such as benzo(a)pyrene, which are clearly decreasing concentrations for other chemical contami- very persistent in the environment, have low acute toxicity but nants. These results are relevant for developing criteria for may be carcinogenic (Table 1). closing and opening fisheries during responses to oil spills. With respect to PAHs in coastal fish and shellfish, what is "background" and how does it vary from place to place and over time and to what extent do spills contribute to existing levels of contamination? Introduction These questions can now be answered, in part, by the U.S. National Mussel Watch Project of the National Oceanic and Seafood fishery closures are becoming frequent responses to Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Status and Trends oil spills (Böiger et al., 1996; Challenger and Mauseth, 1998; (NS&T) Program. In 1986 the Mussel Watch Project began to Mauseth et al., 1997; Mearns and Yender, 1997). Closures monitor spatial distributions and temporal trends of contaminant attempt to prevent the public from consuming toxic chemicals, concentrations at over 200 coastal and estuarine sites around the such as PAHs, and also to prevent tainted (off taste, off odor) . At that time the program analyzed concentrations seafood products from entering the marketplace. of 18 PAHs. Most of these are combustion products and not Rescinding closures is not simple. One of the issues associated particularly useful as indicators of oil and fuel contamination. with rescinding closures is the uncertainty and extent of back- However, the NS&T "target" list grew to 24 PAHs in the early ground contamination offish and shellfish (Mauseth et al., 1997). 1990s and to 44 in the mid 1990s. The current list includes many It is now known, based on various national monitoring programs, compounds characteristic of oils and fuels and is comparable to that shellfish such as mussels and oysters are not free of PAH the list used to "finger-print" oils and fuels. Therefore, the recent contamination anywhere along the U.S. coast (Lauenstein, 1995). National Mussel Watch data should provide a good idea of In other words, seafood contamination from oil spills occurs current levels of contamination in various coastal areas and the against regional and site-specific background contamination from degree to which they are influenced by oil spills. sources other than the spill of current concern. These other

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Table 1. List of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons analyzed in mussels and oysters during various periods of the NO AA National Status and Trends (NS&T) Program National Mussel Watch Project.

Compound Number of analytes 1986-1987 1988-1992 19 Acenaphthene X X X Acenaphthylene X X Anthracene X X X Benz [a] anthracene X X X Benzo[b]fluoranthene X X Benzo[ghi]perylene X X Benzo[a]pyrene X X X Benzo[e]pyrene X X X Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/iosc/article-pdf/1999/1/701/1751191/2169-3358-1999-1-701.pdf by guest on 24 September 2021 Biphenyl X X X Chrysene X X X Dibenz[a,h] anthracene X X X 2,6-Dimethylnaphthalene X X X Fluoranthene X X X Fluorene X X X Indeno[l ,2,3 -cdjpyrene X X X 1 -Methylnaphthalene X X X 2-Methylnaphthalene X X X 1 -Methylphenanthrene X X X Naphthalene X X X Perylene X X X Phenanthrene X X X Pyrene X X X 1,6,7-Trimethyl-naphthalene X X Cl - Naphthalenes X C2 - Naphthalenes X C3 to C4 - Naphthalenes X Cl to C3 - Fluorenes X Cl to C4 - Phenanthrenes + anthracenes X Dibenzothiophene X Cl to C3- Dibenzothiophenes X Cl - Fluoranthenes + pyrenes X Cl to C4 - Chrysenes X Note: Italicized compounds are carcinogens used in seafood risk assessments.

Approach Where does the program sample? National Mussel Watch Program sites are distributed throughout the coastal United States. Why mussels and oysters? Mollusks—namely mussels and They are on average 20 km apart in estuaries and embayments oysters—are not only important seafood items in the United and 100 km apart along open coastlines. Lauenstein et al. (1997) States and abroad, they are also excellent indicators of coastal provides detailed descriptions of each Mussel Watch sampling contamination, including contamination by PAHs (Meador et ah, site. Sites were selected with the intention of collecting samples 1995). When relatively clean oysters were transplanted to that are "representative" of their surroundings. Known small- contaminated areas in Galveston Bay, they accumulated PAHs scale patches of contamination and known points of waste dis- and reached concentrations nearly equal to those of resident charge are avoided. oysters within 30-48 days (Sericano et al., 1996). When returned Who does the sampling? Since 1986 all samples from the to clean water, they depurated (lost) PAHs with half-life rates Coast and since 1995 all samples from all coasts (time required to loose half the original concentration) ranging have been collected and analyzed by scientists from the mainly from 10 to 16 days, depending on the specific PAH Geochemical and Environmental Research Group of the Depart- compound (Sericano et al., 1996). Loss of PAHs from resident ment of Oceanography at A&M University in College oysters transplanted to clean water took longer. Similar studies Station, Texas (GERG/TAMU). For 1986 through 1988, samples have been done with mussels. Based on this and other similar from California were collected and analyzed by Scientific studies, we know that the concentrations of PAHs in mussels and Applications International Corporation (SAIC) in La Jolla, oysters represent relatively recent exposure to petroleum California. Between 1986 and 1994, all other West Coast samples hydrocarbons, either from spills, runoff, or combustion sources. and all East Coast samples were collected and analyzed by What is "Mussel Watch?" The Mussel Watch is an annual or scientists from the Battelle Laboratories in Duxbury, Massachu- biennial nationwide survey of contaminants in mussels and setts, and Sequim, Washington. Detailed descriptions of sampling oysters collected from all coastal areas of the United States, and analytical protocols are available (Lauenstein and Cantillo, including the . Currently over 250 locations are 1993a, b, c, d). sampled every 2 years. HUMAN HEALTH 703

During sampling in 1995 and 1996 the NS&T Program Standards and Technology. Results from intercalibration exer- coordinated with two regional activities thereby increasing the cises are published (Cantillo, 1994; Cantillo and Parris, 1993; numbers of samples in two areas: Texas and Alaska. Valette-Silver, 1992). What species are sampled? Mussels are collected in the Great How are the results presented? This paper focuses on trends Lakes and along the West Coast and the East Coast (north of of total PAHs (_PAH) which is the sum of all quantified analytes. Bay); oysters are collected at the remaining East Coast As noted above, for data from 1995-1996, the sum of PAHs is for (Delaware Bay and south) sites, at Gulf Coast sites, and at three 44 compounds. Exceptions are noted in the results section. Data sites in Hawaii. Three species of mussels and two species of on pollutant concentrations in the NS&T Program are originally oysters are collected: the zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha in presented on the basis of dry tissue weight (dw). However, data the Great Lakes; the blue mussel Mytilus edulis on the East Coast; useful for health risk assessment should be on an original fresh or M. edulis or M. californianus on the West Coast; the oyster wet weight basis (ww; e.g., Böiger et al., 1996). The authors are Crassostrea virginica in the continental United States; and the currently re-analyzing the data on a wet weight basis but have not oyster Ostrea sandvicensis in Hawaii. The preferred size ranges completed that work. However, our data show that mollusks Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/iosc/article-pdf/1999/1/701/1751191/2169-3358-1999-1-701.pdf by guest on 24 September 2021 are 5 to 8 cm for mussels (except zebra mussels), 7 to 10 cm for general contain 80% water. As a surrogate for final wet weight C. virginica and 2.5 to 5 cm for O. sandvicensis. Mollusks are not data we report here both original dry weight values and then shucked in the field. They are separated when found to be estimates of wet weight concentrations which are dry weight adhering to one another and scrubbed with a nylon or natural divided by five. fiber brush to remove adhering detritus. Cleaned samples are then packed in dry ice and shipped to the laboratory. How are the samples analyzed? Composite samples are Results and discussion prepared by homogenizing the soft parts of 30 mussels or 20 oysters. Six composites are used for chemical analysis, three for National overview. Mean concentrations of total PAHs (44) replicate organic contaminant analyses and three for trace from the 1995 and 1996 surveys are shown for the lower 48 U.S elements. Mollusks are collected between November and March states in Figure 1. The overall national average total PAH with the collection date at each site within three weeks of a concentration for all 258 sites sampled during 1995 and 1996 was specified date. 1,570 ppb dw or about 314 ppb ww (Table 2). The overall Organic chemical extractions were similar among laboratories. national median concentration (50th percentile value) was 707 After addition of internal standards and anhydrous sodium ppb dw (141 ppb ww). sulfate, the tissue was extracted three times with dichloromethane using a tissumizer. After concentration by solvent evaporation and exchange of dichloromethane with hexane, the tissue extract Table 2. Summary statistics for total PAH (TPAH) was fractionated by alumina: silica chromatography. The aromatic concentrations in mussels and oysters from 258 sites sampled fraction eluted from the column with 1:1 pentane:dichlo- during the 1995 and 1996 National Mussel Watch surveys. romethane was further purified by removing lipids through chromatography on a Sephadex column. Since 1988, this puri- Statistic ppb dw ppb ww fication has been accomplished via an HPLC procedure devel- Mean 1,570.5 314.1 oped by Krahn et ai (1988). Median 706.7 141.3 Purified extracts were chromatographed on 30-m DB-5 fused Minimum 40.6 8.1 silica capillary columns. Chlorinated hydrocarbon concentrations Maximum 18,869 3,774 were quantified using an electron capture detector (GC/ECD) by all laboratories in all years. For PAHs all analyses by SAIC and Standard deviation 2261.2 532.2 those by Battelle in 1986 and 1987 used flame ionization Note: Wet weight is approximate and assumes tissue is 80% detection (GC/FID). In all years by TAMU and since 1988 by water and is calculated as dry weight divided by 5. Work is Battelle the analysis has been by gas chromatography followed by underway to compute actual wet weight concentrations. mass spectroscopy detection (GC/MSD)used in the single ion mode (SIM). What are the lowest concentrations that can be detected? What were the least and most contaminated sites and what, Detection limits have varied among analytes, years, sampling if anything was unique about them? Concentrations ranged coasts and participating laboratories. The ability to quantify low 500-fold, from 41 ppb dw (8.1 ppb ww) in California mussels at a concentrations has improved over the years. In general the site near on Santa Cruz Island in the Santa Barbara Channel, average Method Limit of Detection (MLD) for individual PAH California (Table 3), to 18,870 ppb dw (3, 774 ppb ww) in analytes has decreased from about 20 ng/g (ppb) dw during the American oysters at a site near Flamingo in Bay, Ever- period 1986 to 1990 to about 12 ppb dw or less from 1991 glades, Florida (Table 4). onward. During some sampling events, MLDs were a low as <1 The 25 least-contaminated sites (Table 3) all yielded mussels ppb dw per analyte. or oysters with less than 150 ppb dw (30 ppb ww) or one-tenth or What chemicals are measured? As noted above, 44 separate less of the national average concentrations. Most were in PAH compounds are now measured in each sample (Table 1). In California (10 sites), Alaska (five sites) and Texas (four sites), addition, a large suite of other pollutants including metals and but others occurred in , , , and pesticides are measured as well. . Curiously, three sites were near urban areas in California How is program quality maintained? All laboratories (San Diego, Santa Monica Bay, and Monterey Bay) and several annually participate in the NOAA NS&T intercalibration exercise in the Exxon Valdez oil spill area of Prince William Sound and where common samples are analyzed by them, by other the Gulf of Alaska. Of these, one—Windy Bay—produced the participating NS&T laboratories, and by the lead laboratory for most contaminated mussels of any site in 1989 during the Exxon the exercise. The lead laboratory for trace element intercalibra- Valdez oil spill. The least contaminated site—Frazier Point, Santa tions has been the National Research Council of Canada and that Cruz Island—is in the Santa Barbara Channel, an area subject to for trace organic analysis has been the National Institute of natural oil seepage. 704 1999 INTERNATIONAL OIL SPILL CONFERENCE Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/iosc/article-pdf/1999/1/701/1751191/2169-3358-1999-1-701.pdf by guest on 24 September 2021

Figure 1. Dry (dw) and wet (ww) concentrations of the sum of 44 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in mussels and oysters from all National Status and Trends (NS&T) Program sites in the contiguous 48 states during the 1995 and 1996 sampling period.

Table 3. The 25 sites with the least PAH contamination in mussels or oysters during the 1995 and 1996 National Mussel Watch Surveys.

TPAH 44, ppb Site Area dw ww (dw/5) Bahia Montalva Puerto Rico, PR 137 27 Santa Monica Bay Las Tunas Beach, CA 131 26 Point St. George Crescent City, CA 129 26 Nauset Harbor Cape Cod, MA 123 25 Knowles Head Prince William Sound, AK 122 24 Panther Point San Antonio Bay, TX 120 24 Lighthouse Point Arena, CA 113 23 Copano Reef Copano Bay, TX 113 23 Ayres Reef Mesquite Bay, TX 110 22 Bodega Entrance Bodega Bay, CA 109 22 South Pass Reef Espiritu Santo, TX 107 21 Pungo River Pamlico Sound, NC 107 21 San Simeon Point San Samieon, CA 105 21 Homer Spit* Cook Inlet, AK 100 20 Point La Jolla San Diego, CA 98 20 Pickering Island Penobscot Bay, ME 94 19 Shuyak Harbor Gulf of Alaska, AK 87 17 Moss Landing Monterey Bay, CA 86 17 Shelter Cove Point Delgada, CA 83 17 Sheep Bay Prince William Sound, AK 83 17 Windy Bay Gulf of Alaska, AK 73 15 Neuse River Pamlico Sound, NC 72 14 Foggerty Creek Yaquina Head, OR 68 14 Lovers Point Pacific Grove, CA 66 13 Fräser Point Santa Cruz Island, CA 41 8 National average 1,570 314 Note: Concentrations are in both ppb (parts per billion) dry weight and ppb wet weight: wet weight is approximate and assumes tissue is 80% water and is calculated as dry weight divided by 5. Work is underway to compute actual wet weight concentrations. HUMAN HEALTH 705

Table 4. The 25 sites with the most PAH contamination in mussels or oysters during the 1995 and 1996 National Mussel Watch Surveys.

TPAH 44, ppb Site Area dw ww (dw/5) Flamingo Florida Bay, FL 18,869 3,774 Confederate Reef Galveston Bay, TX 18,114 3,623 Keehi Lagoon Honolulu Harbor, HI 15,575 3,115 Biloxi Bay Sound, MS 12,201 2,440 South Seattle Puget Sound, WA 11,557 2,311 Municipal Pier Panama City, FL 11,541 2,308 Statue of Liberty Hudson/Raritan Extuary 10.915 2,183 Port Townsend Puget Sound, WA 10,512 2,102 Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/iosc/article-pdf/1999/1/701/1751191/2169-3358-1999-1-701.pdf by guest on 24 September 2021 Four-Mile Rock Puget Sound, WA 9,919 1,984 Deer Island Boston Harbor, MA 9,452 1,890 Milwaukee Bay Lake , WI 7,020 1,404 Coronado Bridge San Diego, CA 6,912 1,382 Sabastian River Indian River, FL 5,766 1,153 Tahlequah Point Puget Sound, WA 5,457 1,091 Lower Bay Hudson/Rar. Estury, NY 5,341 1,068 Dorchester Bay Boston Harbor, MA 5,248 1,050 Watson Bayou St. Andrews Bay, FL 4,672 934 Harbor Island San Diego, CA 4.589 918 Angelica Rock Buzzards Bay, MA 4,079 816 Joes Bayou Choctawhatchee Bay, FL 4,030 806 Fishing Pier San Pedro Harbor, CA 3,906 781 Hillsborough Bay Tampa Bay, FL 3,881 776 Freeport Surfside Brazos River, TX 3,733 747 Nueces Bay Corpus Christi, TX 3,728 746 Boat Harbor Corpus Christi, TX 3,717 743 National average 1,570 314 Note: Concentrations are in both ppb (parts per billion) dry weight and ppb wet weight: wet weight is approximate and assumes tissue is 80% water and is calculated as dry weight divided by 5 Work is underway to compute actual wet weight concentrations.

The 25 most-contaminated sites (Table 4) produced shellfish in the immediate area of the spill, and there is a lot of data with TPAH concentrations three to ten times above the national supporting use of bivalves to assess local contamination. But do average. The most contaminated oysters—from Flamingo, such spills contribute to increased contamination at larger Florida Bay—were collected from a creosote piling at a boat national/regional scales? To answer this these data must be ramp and do not necessarily reflect concentrations away from compared with a more detailed account of the history and extent the piling. However, there are at least seven other sites with of spills in each area of the United States. That work is in mussels or oysters containing in excess of 10,000 ppb dw (2,000 progress and cannot be reported at this time. However, the ppb ww, Table 4). A site at the base of the Statue of Liberty in authors have several case histories worth noting here. Harbor is among these, as are two sites in Puget In the winter of 1996, the authors collected mussels from four Sound (South Seattle and Port Townsend; Table 3). Indeed, it normally-sampled fixed NS&T stations in and seems curious that Puget Sound, a large well-flushed fjord, Block Island Sound. These were collected 1 month following the should be represented by four of the most contaminated sites. January 1996 North Cape No. 2 fuel spill (Mauseth et al., 1997). What factors appear to be responsible for the contamina- The sites had also been sampled approximately annually since tion? The primary factor for areas of high PAH contamination 1986. The 11-year data (18 analytes only) show that TPAHs in in mussels and oysters is probably runoff and wastewater mussels from four Rhode Island stations were lower in April, discharges from major urban population centers. Using 1990 1996, 3 months after the North Cape spill, than they were in NS&T National Mussel Watch data, Mearns et al (1998) found a March 1995 or during many other previous years (Figure 2a). general relationship between human population size within 20 Indeed, the long-term data show that the Rhode Island mussels km of a mussel watch site and the concentration of PAHs (18 have experienced several increases and decreases of PAH compounds) in mussels or oysters at the site. However, there contamination during the past 12 years and that there has been were notable exceptions with high concentrations (greater than no significant long-term decline and possibly an increase, 1,000 ppb dw) occurring in mussels or oysters near some rural unrelated to the North Cape spill. However, this plot (Figure 2a) areas many of which are oil processing or production areas of is based only on 18 analytes that were consistently measured the Gulf and Southeast. Likewise, in 1990, and as noted above over the course of the whole NS&T program. If only the latest for 1995-96, there were a number of relatively clean sites near data (since 1993) and all 44 compounds are used, there may be a urban areas of the West Coast (other than Puget Sound). different story. As shown in Figure 2b total PAH concentrations What about oil spills? An important question, of course, is to were not particularly higher in 1996 than in previous years: what extent is PAH contamination as measured in the NS&T however, one station was—BIBI is a site on Block Island that Mussel Watch program, a reflection of major oil spills? There is no question mussels and oyster are contaminated by spilled oil 706 1999 INTERNATIONAL OIL SPILL CONFERENCE

800 I y= -618.71 H-9.8619x 1 (a) A 1 R 2 = 0.085 o BIBI 700 • NBDI « NBDU 600 1 · • A NBPI ¼ 500 A | Q. 4 a 400 • □ 1 4* « • A* 300

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1 1 1 1 1 T—·—i—■—i— —·—r— —i—·- -8- ■—i—' —i— —i—· —r—< —i—"—' ¹—«—i—«— 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 North Cape Spill January, 1996 Year

Figure 2. (a) Long-term trends of the sum of 18 PAHs in mussels from four NS&T sites in Rhode Island, 1986 through 1996. Sites are BIBI, Block Island; NBDI, Narragansett Bay, Dyer Island; NBDU, Narragansett Bay, Dutch Island; and NBPI, Narragansett Bay, Patience Island, (b) Trends of the sum of 44 PAHs in mussels from four NS&T sites in Rhode Island before (1993,1994, and 1995) and after (1996) the North Cape No. 2 fuel oil spill. was indeed exposed to North Cape oil. The use of the full- However, there may be comparable data from am spectrum of 44 PAH compounds thus aided in identifying that at program. The authors and others have conducted compare _ least this site may have experienced North Cape oil a month sampling at known oiled and unoiled locations in Prince after the spill. William Sound from 1990 through 1995. During the summers of NS&T sampling was not underway within the spill area in 1990 to 1995 NOAA HAZMAT sampled mussels at oiled, oiled Prince William Sound, Alaska, during the Exxon Valdez oil spill. and cleaned, and unoiled sites in Prince William Sound. However, as noted above, samples taken as part of the Prince Composites of mussels were analyzed for 42 PAHs as described William Sound Regional Citizens Advisory Committee Long in Hoff and Shigenaka (this conference). At unoiled control sites Term Monitoring Program in Prince William Sound were in- the overall mean TPAH42 concentration was 152 ppb dw (range cluded in the 1995-1996 National Mussel Watch Program. As 25 to 500 ppb dw) or about 31 ppb ww (range 5 to 102 ppb ww). noted above, many of these sites were among the least These values are indeed comparable to the 1995-1996 NS&T contaminated in the nation (less than 100 ppb dw or 20 ppb and RCAC values reported above. Concentrations were higher ww). in 1990 (about 100 ppb ww) than in subsequent years (12 to 91 ppb ww). At up to 17 oiled sites, concentrations in mussels HUMAN HEALTH 707 decreased from and average of over 8500 ppb dw (range 200 to authorities—carcinogenic PAHs. An electronic file of site 17,000 ppb dw) or 1700 ppb ww (range 40 to 14,400 ppb ww) in locations accompanies the chemical data file that is available July 1990 (1 year after the spill) to about 2500 ppb dw (500 ppb upon request from the authors, or on the Internet at ww) in July 1991 and continued to decrease to an average of 200 http:llseaserver.nos.noaa.govlprojectslnsandtlnsandt.htmL ppb dw (range 5 to 1200 ppb dw) or about 41 ppb ww (range 1 to 240 ppb) in 1995. In short, concentrations of TPAHs in mussels at oiled sites equaled or approached background Acknowledgements concentrations of 30 to 40 ppb ww by 1995. Therefore, had the NS&T Mussel Watch program included such sites in 1989-1994 This paper was presented, in part, at the Arctic and Marine it is likely it would have recorded the rise and fall of PAH Oilspill Programme (AMOP) Technical Seminar, Edmonton, contamination from the Exxon Valdez spill. Alberta, Canada, June 1998. Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/iosc/article-pdf/1999/1/701/1751191/2169-3358-1999-1-701.pdf by guest on 24 September 2021 Long-term trends References

Lauenstein (1995) re-analyzed archived mollusk samples 1. Beliaeff, B., T. P. O'Connor, D. K. Daskalakis, and P. J. collected at 51 sites in 1977 by the EPA Mussel Watch program. Smith. 1997. U.S. Mussel Watch Data from 1986 to He reported that _PAHs, notably the sum of low molecular 1994: Temporal Trend Detection at Large Spatial Scales. weight PAHs, was lower in 1992 than in 1977, suggesting there Environ. Sei. Tech. 31: 1411-1415. has been a nationwide decrease of PAHs in mollusks during this 2. Bolger, M., S.H. Henry and CD. Carrington. 1996. time. However, results of the NOAA NS&T program from 1986 Hazard and Risk Assessment of Crude Oil Contaminants to 1993 indicate that while most other contaminants (DDT, in Subsistence Seafood Samples from Prince William tributyl tin) were decreasing in concentration in U.S. coastal Sound. American Fisheries Society Symposium 18: 837- shellfish, there was no similar decrease in PAH contamination 843. over this time period (Beliaeff et al., 1997; O'Connor, 1996; 3. Cantillo, A. Y. and R. Parris, Quality Assurance Project. O'Connor and Beliaeff, 1995). Preliminary results through 1996 Trace Organic Inter comparison Exercise Results. 1986- remain essentially the same and in particular there is no further 1990. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS ORCA 69 decreasing nationwide trend in concentrations of polycyclic Silver Spring, MD, 1993. aromatic hydrocarbons (O'Connor, 1998). The lack of long-term 4. Cantillo, A. Y., Quality Assurance Project. increase or decrease is also evident in the plots for the Rhode Intercomparison Exercise Results 1991-1993. NOAA Island sites (Figure 2a and 2b). Technical Memorandum NOS ORCA 79 Silver Spring, MD, 1994. 5. Challenger, G.E. and G. S. Mauseth, 1998. Closing and Significance opening fisheries following oil spills; a case study in Humbolt Bay, California. Proceedings of the Twenty- It is incumbent on health authorities to determine the signifi- first Arctic and Marine Oilspill Program (AMOP) cance of national and spill-specific shellfish PAH concentrations Technical Seminar, Environment Canada, Ottawa, Ont., to human health. At the moment, that process may involve in- pp. 167-179. spection of concentrations of the individual analytes that make 6. Krahn, M. M., C. A. Wigren, R. W. Pearce, L. K. Moore, up the "total" PAH mix, such as conducted by Böiger et al. R. G. Bogar, W. D. MacLeod, Jr., S.-L. Chan and D. W. (1996). This paper simply introduces a database and monitoring Brown, Standard Analytical Procedures for the NOAA program that may have great use in evaluating risk, the scale of National Analytical Facility, 1988: New HPLC Cleanup risk and determining "how clean is clean" for specific areas. and Revised Extraction Procedures for Organic Contaminants. NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS/ NWC-153. NOAA/NMFS/NWFSC, Seattle, WA, 1988. Conclusion 7. Mauseth, G.S., C.A. Martin and K. Whittle, Closing and reopening fisheries following oil spills: three different PAHs are common "background" contaminants in U.S. cases with similar problems, Proceedings of the Twenti- mussels and oysters. To a large extent the _PAH concentrations, eth Arctic and Marine Oilspill Program (AMOP) like those for lead and organochlorines, are correlated with the Technical Seminar, Environment Canada, Ottawa, Ont., numbers of people living in proximity to the Mussel Watch sites pp. 1283-1303, 1997. (Mearns et al., 1998). However, there are rural sites near oil 8. Meador, J.P., J.E. Stein, W.L. Reichert and U. Varanasi, production, transportation and handling facilities where _PAH is 1995. Bioaccumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocar- high. In those cases, it was the low molecular weight compounds bons by marine organisms. Reviews of Environmental (3 rings and less) that elevated the _PAH. In urban areas, it was Contamination and Toxicology, 143:79-165. generally the high molecular weight compounds (4 rings or 9. Mearns, AJ. and R. Yender, Workshop on managing more) associated with combustion that contributed most to seafood problems during the response phase of an oil _PAH concentrations. There are sites, primarily in California, spill, Proceedings of the Twentieth Arctic and Marine where _PAH was low (<50 ppb dw) despite proximity to people. Oilspill Program (AMOP) Technical Seminar, Environ- These are sites along open coasts where oceanic mixing may be ment Canada, Ottawa, Ont., pp. 203-214, 1997. responsible for maintaining _PAH in the low range. 10. Mearns, A.J., G.G. Lauenstein and T.P. O'Connor, 1998. We are continuing to work with these and new data. Data will The U.S. Musselwatch: Nationwide geographic and be examined in more detail for source fingerprinting (pyrogenic longterm trends of PAHs in coastal mussels and oysters. vs petroleum) and for correlations with major past oil spills. Proceedings of the Twenty-first Arctic and Marine Finally, the data are being examined from the standpoint of Oilspill Program (AMOP) Technical Seminar, Environ- specific compounds that of greatest concern to health ment Canada, Ottawa, Ont., pp. 465-472. 708 1999 INTERNATIONAL OIL SPILL CONFERENCE

11. Lauenstein, G.G., Comparison of organic contaminants Volume IV. Comprehensive Descriptions of Trace found in mussels and oysters from a current Mussel Organic Analytical Methods. NOAA Technical Watch project with those from archived mollusc samples Memorandum NOS ORCA 71 Silver Spring, MD, of the 1970s, Marine Pollution Bulletin, 30(12):826- 1993d. 833, 1995. 16. Lauenstein, G. G., A. Y. Cantillo, S. Kokkinakis, S. 12. Lauenstein, G. G. and A. Y. Cantillo (eds.), Sampling Frew, H. J. Jobling, and R. R. Ray, Mussel Watch and Analytical Methods of the NS&T Program National Project Site Descriptions, through 1997. NOAA Benthic Surveillance and Mussel Watch Projects. Technical Memorandum NOS ORCA 112 Silver Spring, Volume I. Overview and Summary of Methods. NOAA MD, 1997. Technical Memorandum NOS ORCA 71 Silver Spring, 17. O'Connor, T. P. and B. Beliaeff, Recent Trends in MD, 1993a. Coastal Environmental Quality: Results from the Mussel 13. Lauenstein, G. G. and A. Y. Cantillo (eds.), Sampling Watch Project. NOAA, Silver Spring, MD, 1995. and Analytical Methods of the NS&T Program National 18. O'Connor, T. P., Trends in chemical concentrations in Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/iosc/article-pdf/1999/1/701/1751191/2169-3358-1999-1-701.pdf by guest on 24 September 2021 Benthic Surveillance and Mussel Watch Projects. mussels and oysters collected along the U. S. coast from Volume II. Comprehensive Descriptions of Complemen- 1986 to 1993, Marine. Environmental Research (G.B.), tary Measurements. NOAA Technical Memorandum 41: 183-200,1996. NOS ORCA 71 Silver Spring, MD, 1993b. 19. O'Connor, T. P., State of the Coast: Chemical Contami- 14. Lauenstein, G. G. and A. Y. Cantillo (eds.), Sampling nation in Mollusks http:llstate_of_coast.noaa.gov, and Analytical Methods of the NS&T Program National NOAA, Silver Spring, MD, 1998 Benthic Surveillance and Mussel Watch Projects. 20. Sericano, J.L., T.L. Wade and J.M. Brooks, 1996. Volume III. Comprehensive Descriptions of Elemental Accumulation and depuration of organic contaminants Analytical Methods. NOAA Technical Memorandum by the American oyster (Crassostrea virginicd). The NOS ORCA 71 Silver Spring, MD, 1993c. Science of the Total Environment 179: 149-160. 15. Lauenstein, G. G. and A. Y. Cantillo (eds.), Sampling 21. Valette-Silver, N., Elemental Analyses of Marine and Analytical Methods of the NS&T Program National Sediments and Biological Tissues. NOAA Technical Benthic Surveillance and Mussel Watch Projects. Memorandum NOS ORCA 66 Silver Spring, MD, 1992.