National Status and Trends Program: Chemical and Biological Monitoring of U.S. Coastal Waters

An ecosystem approach to global assessment and management of coastal waters

“…The assessment of chemical contaminant exposure and effects on fisheries resources and food-chain organisms consists of a suite of parameters, including biochemical responses that are clearly linked to contaminant exposure coupled with measurements of organ disease and reproductive status that have been used in previous studies to establish links between exposure and effects. The specific suite of parameters measured will Cover the Same general responses and thus allow for comparable assessment of the physiological status of each species sampled as it relates to chemical contaminant exposure and effects at the individual species a n d population level (Svanberg 1992, Turgeon et al 1992, Varanasi et al 1992). In addition, the implementation of protocols for assessing the frequency and effect of harmful algal blooms (Smayda 1991) and emergent diseases (Epstein 1993) are included in the pollution module.…”

Normalization and Elemental Sediment Contamination in the Coastal United States

“…Aspects of Coastal Contamination. Several papers based on NOAA NS&T data (7, [13][14][15][16] have reported the connection between high concentrations and population centers. In all these cases concentrations were adjusted for grain size but otherwise not normalized.…”

Silicone in the Environment: A Worst-Case Assessment of Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) in Sediments

“…Final selection of the study areas (Table ) was based on recom mendations by the U.S. EPA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and individuals having experience with the study areas of interest. Additional considerations included geographic location, level of wastewater treatment, and results from other sediment monitoring projects ( − ). Two of the study areas, Little Calumet River and Hamilton Harbor, were both designated by the International Joint Commission as “areas of concern” within the Great Lakes ().…”