USEPA s National Fish and Wildlife Contamination Program

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1 USEPA s National Fish and Wildlife Contamination Program Joel Hansel, Regional Fish Advisory Coordinator Water Quality Protection Branch Water Protection Division United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 4 E V S

2 USEPA s Fish Contamination Program Provides technical assistance to State, Federal and Tribal agencies on matters related to health risks associated with exposure to chemical contaminants in fish and wildlife Activities include: National guidance documents National databases National conferences and workshops Grants for sampling and analysis Conduct special studies Issue advisories

3 Historical Perspectives and Rationale Contamination of aquatic resources has been documented for many regions of the United States While concentrations of some pollutants have decreased, others have increased due to increased urbanization, industrial development, and agricultural activities Toxic contaminants can accumulate in fish and shellfish tissues and may reach concentrations much higher than in the water column

4 Historical Perspectives and Rationale, cont d. Monitoring of contaminants in fish tissue provides an indicator of water quality problems and contaminated sediments Monitoring can indicate whether fish contaminant concentrations pose an unacceptable risk to humans consuming fish Fish advisories or bans can be issued based on the results of the monitoring of fish contaminants

5 2010 Advisory Listing The 2010 NLFA database lists 4,598 advisories in 50 states, the District of Columbia, two of the four U.S. Territories, and 5 Indian tribes. The number of waterbodies under advisory represents: 42% of the Nation s total lake acres (excluding the Great Lakes), or approximately 17.7 million lake acres 36% of the Nation s total river miles, or approximately 1.4 million river miles 42% of the Nation s contiguous coastal waters (79% including Alaska and Hawaii) 100% of the Great Lakes and their connecting waters. There were 37 states with statewide advisories in effect in Oregon rescinded a statewide mercury advisory in In addition, 2% of the Nation s river miles and 9% of the Nation s lake acres had safe eating guidelines in effect in 2010.

6 Increased Monitoring by States Since the 1970s, states have monitored for contaminants in fish in more and more of their waters. Where they find high levels of contaminants, they issue fish consumption advisories. o As a result, increases in advisories result primarily from increased sampling of previously untested waters and are not necessarily due to increased levels or frequency of contamination. o There were more advisories in 2010 than in This does not mean that contaminant levels in fish are increasing nationwide, but rather that states are doing more monitoring. o At the same time, EPA develops - and states implement - environmental regulations designed to reduce environmental pollutants into the waters, and we will continue to work to reduce emissions.

7 Bioaccumulative Pollutants Although current advisories in the United States have been issued for 33 different pollutants, most advisories involve five primary bioaccumulative contaminants: Mercury 3,710 advisories in 2010 (up from 3,361 in 2008) PCBs 1,084 advisories in 2010 (up from 1,025 in 2008) Chlordane 60 advisories in 2010 (down from 67 in 2008) Dioxins 128 advisories in 2010 (up from 123 in 2008) DDT 58 advisories in 2010 (down from 76 in 2008) An increase in advisories issued by the states generally reflects an increase in the number of assessments of contaminants in fish tissues.

8 Number of Lake Acres Under Advisory for Various Pollutants, Mercury PCBs Chlordan e Dioxins DDT Other 0 5,000,000 10,000,000 15,000,000 20,000,000 Lake Acres Under Advisory

9 Number of River Miles Under Advisory for Various Pollutants, Mercury PCBs Chlordane Dioxins DDT Other , , , ,000 1,000,000 1,200,000 1,400,000 River Miles Under Advisory

10 Percentage of River Miles and Lake Acres Under Advisory, Percent of Total Miles or Acres River Miles Lake Acres Year

11 Number of Advisories By State Source: 2010 National Listing of Fish Advisories , = 178 = 23 = 21 = 149 = 1 = 30 =

12 Fish Consumption Advisories for Mercury *Lakes *Lake s NOTE: This map depicts the presence and type of fish advisories issued by the states for mercury as of December Because only selected waterbodies are monitored, this map does not reflect the full extent of chemical contamination of fish tissues in each state or territory. *Statewide freshwater mercury advisories for Minnesota and Michigan include lakes only

13 Number of Safe Eating Guidelines by State Number of safe eating guidelines in each state is noted within the state. Safe eating guidelines are issued to inform the public that certain species of fish from specific waterbodies have been tested and have been shown to contain low levels of contaminants. Guidelines can also be issued for all waterbodies in a state. Safe eating guideline data should not be used for: Characterizing geographic distribution of chemical contaminants Making interstate or international comparisons. Safe eating guidelines in the NLFA database are updated as new information is provided to USEPA's National Fish Contamination Program.

14 Log of Mercury Concentrations in Selected Fish Species Includes fish tissue contaminant data used in support of advisory decisions in 2008 and previous years.

15 National Mean Mercury Concentration in Tissues of Selected Fish Species (all sample types) *N= number of samples

16 Guidance for Assessing Chemical Contamination Data for Use in Fish Advisories Volume 1: Fish Sampling and Analysis Volume 2: Risk Assessment and Fish Consumption Limits Volume 3: Overview of Risk Management Volume 4: Risk Communication

17 State Contacts for Fish Advisories

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