Bioaccumulation Profiles of Chemical Contaminants in Fish from the Lower Willamette River, Portland Harbor, Oregon

Abstract

Twenty-five PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), 15 organochlorine (OC) pesticides, and mercury were determined in fish from the Willamette River in Oregon, including a Portland Harbor superfund site. Fish were collected during the summer of 2000 along a 20-mile stretch of the lower Willamette River. Concentrations of sumPCBs (sum of 25 individually determined PCB congeners) and sumDDTs (sum of p,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDE, and p,p'-DDD) in fish ranged from 14 to 530 and from 18 to 510 ng/g-wet weight, respectively. SumPCBs concentrations at all sites exceeded US EPA fish advisory's screening values. Hexachlorobiphenyl congener 153 was the most abundant of the PCBs detected and p,p'-DDE was the most abundant OC pesticide detected. Low levels of dieldrin were detected in fish at all sites with the highest concentration at the superfund site (4.6 ng/g-wet weight), while other OC pesticides tested were near or below detection limits (approximately 2 ng/g). In general, organic chemical contaminant concentrations were highest in fish from the superfund site and were lower further upriver. Smallmouth bass had the highest levels of OC compounds of three fish species examined. They also had the largest site-to-site variations whereas black crappie had little variation throughout the study area. Mercury levels in fish ranged from 13 to 520 ng/g. Historical fish residue data are limited from the Portland Harbor superfund site, what data is available is over a decade old, generally consisted of only a few fish (< or = 3) and analyses quantified only a few PCB congeners (< 3).

Dietary exposure of largemouth bass to OCPs changes expression of genes important for reproduction

“…Largemouth bass living in these areas presented levels of dieldrin in fat of 0.5 ppm and concentrations of DDT of 13 ppm, while the DDT concentration in the sediments was much lower than those for p,p′-DDE (0.06-0.6 ppm) (Marburger et al, 2002). Other studies have reported p,p′-DDE concentrations of 1.5 ppm in fish from the Adriatic Sea (Storelli et al, 2004) and 0.5 ppm in fish from Portland Harbor (Sethajintanin et al, 2004) indicating that the concentrations obtained in this study are environmentally relevant. We focused on p,p′-DDE and dieldrin because these are relatively stable metabolites of the parent compounds p,p′-DDT and aldrin.…”

Residues of Organochlorine Pesticides in Fish from the Gomti River, India

“…Dominance of pp-DDE, among the DDT metabolites reflects earlier usage of DDT in the catchments. Sethajintanin et al (2004) and Yang et al (2007) have also reported dominance of pp-DDE in the fish samples. pp-DDE is a highly persistent metabolite in the environment and organisms.…”

Dynamic modeling predicts continued bioaccumulation of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomiu) post phase-out due to invasive prey and shifts in predation

“…The increase in the PBDE load of smallmouth bass indicates the importance of the benthic-pelagic link created by the invasion of non-native species. Smallmouth bass has previously been observed to accumulate higher levels of persistent organohalogen compounds and mercury than other organisms due to trophic position (Kwon et al, 2006;Sethajintanin et al, 2004), but only recently has the importance of the direct link between benthic uptake and predatory fish been observed (Carlson et al, 2010;Hogan et al, 2007). Prior to the invasion of the round goby, the lack of a benthic link allowed for the sequestration of such persistent compounds to benthic organisms (Moermond et al, 2004).…”