Abstract
From late 1984 to early 1985, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service collected a total of 315 composite samples of whole fish from 109 stations nationwide, which were analyzed for arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, selenium, and zinc. Geometric mean, maximum, and 85th percentile concentrations (μg/g wet weight) for 1984 samples were as follows: arsenic-0.14, 1.5, 0.27; cadmium-0.03, 0.22, 0.05; copper-0.65, 23.1, 1.0; mercury-0.10, 0.37, 0.17; lead-0.11, 4.88, 0.22; selenium-0.42, 2.30, 0.73; and zinc-21.7, 118.4, 34.2. The mean concentrations of selenium and lead were significantly lower than in the previous NCBP collection (1980–81). Mean concentrations of arsenic and cadmium also declined significantly between 1976, when elemental contaminants in fish were first measured in the NCBP, and 1984. Of greatest significance, lead concentrations declined steadily from 1976 to 1984, suggesting that regulatory measures have successfully reduced the influx of lead to the aquatic environment.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alexander RB, Smith RA (1988) Trends in lead concentrations in major U.S. rivers and their relation to historical changes in gasoline-lead consumption. Water Resour Bull 24:557–569
American Chemical Society, Subcommittee on Environmental Analytical Chemistry (1980) Guidelines for data acquisition and data quality evaluation in environmental chemistry. Anal Chem 52:2242–2249
American Fisheries Society (1980) A list of common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada (4th Ed.). Amer Fish Soc, Spec Publ No 12, 174 pp
Bigelow HB, Schroeder WC (1953) Fishes of the Gulf of Maine. US Fish Wildl Serv, Fish Bull 74, Vol 53, 577 pp
Brumbaugh WG, Walther MJ (1989) Determination of arsenic and selenium in whole fish by continuous-flow hydride generation atomic absorption spectrophotometry. J Assoc Offic Anal Chem 72:484–486
Christensen EK, Chien N-K (1981) Fluxes of arsenic, lead, zinc, and cadmium to Green Bay and Lake Michigan sediments. Environ Sci Technol 15:553–558
Eisenreich SJ, Metzer NA, Urban NR, Robbins JA (1986) Response of atmospheric lead to decreased use of lead in gasoline. Environ Sci Technol 20:171–174
Gilbert RO (1987) Statistical methods for environmental pollution. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 320 pp
Green RE, Goswami KP, Mukhtar M, Young HY (1977) Herbicides from cropped watersheds in stream and estuarine sediments in Hawaii. J Environ Qual 6:145–154
Henderson C, Inglis A, Johnson WL (1971) Organochlorine insecticide residues in fish, fall 1969. Pestic Monit J 5:1–11
—(1972) Mercury residues in fish, 1969–1970. Pestic Monit J 6:144–159
Henderson C, Johnson WL, Inglis A (1969) Organochlorine insecticide residues in fish. Pestic Monit J 3:145–171
Johnson RE, Carver TC, Dustman EH (1967) Indicator species near top of food chain chosen for assessment of pesticide base levels in fish and wildlife-clams, oysters, and sediment chosen for estuaries. Pestic Monit J 1:7–13
Kirchgessner M, Schwarz FJ (1986) Mineral content (major and trace elements) of carp (Cyprinus carpio) fed with different protein and energy supplies. Aquaculture 54:3–9
Kushner EJ (1976) On determining the statistical parameters for pollution concentration from a truncated data set. Atmosph Environ 10:975–979
Lowe TP, May TW, Brumbaugh WG, Kane DA (1985) National Contaminant Biomonitoring Program-concentrations of seven elements in freshwater fish, 1978–1981. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 14:363–388
May TW, McKinney GL (1981) Cadmium, mercury, arsenic, and selenium concentrations in freshwater fish, 1976–1977-National Pesticide Monitoring Program. Pestic Monit J 15:14–38
Moore JW, Ramamoorthy S (1984) Heavy metals in natural waters. Applied monitoring and impact analysis. Springer-Verlag, New York, 268 pp
Pita FW, Hyne NJ (1975) The depositional environment of zinc, lead, and cadmium in reservoir sediments. Water Res 9:701–706
Rhoman SO (1985) Tracing a river's toxic pollution. A case study of the Hudson. INFORM Inc, New York, 154 pp
Rhoman SO, Lilienthal N (1987) Tracing a river's toxic pollution. A case study of the Hudson. Phase II. INFORM Inc, New York, 209 pp
Satoh S, Takeuchi T, Wantabe T (1987) Effect of deletion of several trace elements from a mineral mixture in fish meal diets on mineral composition of gonads in rainbow trout and carp. Bull Jpn Soc Sci Fish 53:281–286
Schmitt CJ (1981) Analysis of variance as a method for examining contaminant residues in fish: National Pesticide Monitoring Program. In: Branson DR, Dixon KL (eds) Aquatic toxicology and hazard assessment, fourth conference. American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, PA, ASTM-STP 737, p 270
Schmitt CJ, Finger SE (1987) The effects of sample preparation on measured concentrations of eight elements in the edible tissues of fish from streams contaminated by lead mining. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 16:185–207
Schmitt CJ, Ludke JL, Walsh D (1981) Organochlorine residues in fish, 1970–1974: National Pesticide Monitoring Program. Pestic Monit J 14:136–206
Schmitt CJ, Ribick MA, Ludke JL, May TW (1983) Organochlorine residues in freshwater fish, 1976–1979: National Pesticide Monitoring Program. US Fish and Wildl Serv, Washington, DC, Resour Publ 152, 62 pp
Schmitt CJ, Zajicek JL, Ribick MA (1985) National Pesticide Monitoring Program: Residues of Organochlorine chemicals in freshwater fish, 1980–81. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 14:225–260
Settle DM, Patterson CC (1980) Lead in albacore: Guide to lead pollution in Americans. Science (Washington, DC) 207:1167–1176
Shearer KD (1984) Changes in elemental composition of hatchery-reared rainbow trout,Salmo gairdneri, associated with growth and reproduction. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 41:1592–1600
Slavin W (1984) Graphite furnace AAS: A source book. The Perkin-Elmer Corp, Norwalk, CT, pp 15–16
Smith RA, Alexander RB, Wolman MG (1987) Water quality trends in the nation's rivers. Science (Washington, DC) 235:1607–1615
Trefry JHS, Metz S, Trocine RP, Nelsen TA (1985) A decline in lead transport by the Mississippi River. Science (Washington, DC) 230:439–441
Varanasi U, Markey D (1978) Uptake and release of lead and cadmium in skin and mucus of coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). Comp Biochem Physiol 60C:187–191
Vinogradov AP (1953) The elementary chemical composition of marine organisms. Mem Sears Found Mar Res II, New Haven, CT, 647 pp
Wagemann R, Snow NB, Rosenberg DM, Lutz A (1978) Arsenic in sediments, water and aquatic biota from lakes in the vicinity of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 7:169–191
Walsh D, Berger B, Bean J (1977) Heavy metal residues in fish, 1971–1973. Pestic Monit J 11:5–34
Whittle DM, Fitzsimons (1983) The influence of the Niagara River on contaminant burdens of Lake Ontario biota. J Great Lakes Res 9:295–302
Wiener JG, Giesy JP Jr (1979) Concentrations of Cd, Cu, Mn, Pb and Zn in fishes in a highly organic softwater pond. J Fish Res Board Can 36:270–279
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Schmitt, C.J., Brumbaugh, W.G. National contaminant biomonitoring program: Concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, selenium, and zinc in U.S. Freshwater Fish, 1976–1984. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 19, 731–747 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01183991
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01183991