Author: Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Antimycin
Languages : en
Pages : 26
Book Description
An Assessment of the Use of Chemical Fish Toxicants in California
Author: An Assessment of the Use of Chemical Fish Toxicants in California
Author: A Risk Assessment for Ingestion of Toxic Chemicals in Fish from Imperial Beach, California
Author: Mallory Arden LushenkoPublisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 199
Book Description
Contamination of fish by heavy metals, chlorinated pesticides, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) can compromise the health of recreational and subsistence anglers consuming the fish they catch. This investigation quantified chemical contaminants in fish muscle and liver tissue samples and followed methods of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to estimate the hazard indexes and cancer risks associated with consuming fish caught in the waters off the Imperial Beach Pier in Imperial Beach, California. Similar risk assessment studies have been performed for other areas of Southern California but no such investigations have been undertaken for Imperial Beach. All fish samples were donated by Imperial Beach Pier anglers participating in a fishing derby on August 30, 2008. A total of 8 fish samples (3 jacksmelt, 3 mackerel, 1 yellowfin croaker, 1 white croaker) were collected and frozen until they were transported to CRG Marine Laboratories, Inc. for analysis of chemical contaminants. Different instrumentation, per the U.S. EPA methodologies, was used for the specific analytes. A mean ingestion value of 31.2 g/day and a subsistence ingestion value of 142.2 g/day were used along with the mean and maximum concentrations, respectively, to estimate the risk values for each chemical contaminant in muscle tissue. The level of exposure resulting from the consumption of each chemical in the fish tissue was estimated in an average daily dose equation. For noncarcinogenic chemicals, the average daily dose was divided by the oral reference dose, as specified by the U.S. EPA, for each chemical to estimate the hazard index. Estimation of risk for carcinogenic chemicals was calculated by multiplying the average daily dose by the cancer potency factor, also designated by the U.S. EPA. Hazard indexes were calculated for organic arsenic, cadmium, chromium (VI), methylmercury, nickel, selenium, and zinc while cancer risk calculations were done for total chlordane, total DDT, individual PCB congeners detected, and total PCBs. All noncarcinogenic chemicals yielded hazard index (HI) values below 1.0, with the exception of mean and subsistence level ingestion of organic arsenic, with HI values of 1.031 and 8.103, respectively, and subsistence level ingestion of methylmercury, which had a HI of 1.424. Cancer risk calculations exceeding the U.S. EPA's acceptable risk level of 1 in 1,000,000 (or 10-6) included total chlordane at the subsistence level ingestion (1.780 x 10-6), total DDT at the mean ingestion level (7.184 x 10-6), and each PCB congener at the subsistence ingestion level (2.034 x 10-6). Inorganic arsenic at mean and subsistence ingestion levels (5.154 x 10-5 and 4.053 x 10-4, respectively), total DDT at the subsistence ingestion level (7.538 x 10-5), and total PCBs at mean and subsistence ingestion levels (1.159 x 10-5 and 5.290 x 10-5, respectively) all exceeded the U.S. EPA acceptable cancer risk as well as the California EPA's less stringent acceptable risk level of 1 in 100,000 (or 10-5). Regarding the risks of fish liver tissue consumption, the mean mass of the livers collected was 2.48 g and an assumption was made that 3 fish livers of this mass were consumed per week, yielding a mean daily intake value of 1.06 g/day. The presence of metals was not analyzed in liver tissue samples, thus only cancer risk calculations for detected chlorinated pesticides and PCB congeners were performed using the arithmetic mean chemical concentration found in the samples. Of all carcinogenic chemicals detected in the liver samples, only the total PCBs concentration yielded a cancer risk exceeding the U.S. EPA acceptable risk level, with a risk value of 2.804 x 10-6. Some of the chemicals studied, such as arsenic and mercury, occur naturally in the environment and present a "natural" risk because of their behavior in the marine environment. Due to their ban in the U.S. and decreased use in Mexico, the concentrations of the "legacy" pollutants, such as DDT andPCBs, should continue to decline to within de minimus levels over the next decade or two. The results of this study have shown that some of the chemicals analyzed exert a marginal level of unacceptable risk at present, particularly when consumed at subsistence levels; thus, it is important that continued research be conducted to better establish fish consumption data and to aid in the creation of accurate fish consumption guidelines for anglers on the Imperial Beach Pier.
Chemicals in Fish
Author: California Environmental Protection Agency. Office of Environmental Health Hazard AssessmentPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Fishes
Languages : en
Pages : 149
Book Description
A Study of Chemical Contamination of Marine Fish from Southern California: Comprehensive study
Author: A Study of Chemical Contamination of Marine Fish from Southern California
Author: Gerald Arthur PollockPublisher:
ISBN:
Category : Fish as food
Languages : en
Pages : 224
Book Description
Sport Fishery Abstracts
Author: Risk-Based Waste Classification in California
Author: National Research CouncilPublisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309065445
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 235
Book Description
The Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) of the State of California Environmental Protection Agency is in the process of complying with the Regulatory Structure Update. The Regulatory Structure Update is a comprehensive review and refocusing of California's system for identifying and regulating management of hazardous wastes. As part of this effort, the DTSC proposes to change its current waste classification system that categorizes wastes as hazardous or nonhazardous based on their toxicity. Under the proposed system there would be two risk-based thresholds rather than the single toxicity threshold currently used to distinguish between the wastes. Wastes that contain specific chemicals at concentrations that exceed the upper threshold will be designated as hazardous; those below the lower threshold will be nonhazardous; and those with chemical concentrations between the two thresholds will be "special" wastes and subject to variances for management and disposal. The proposed DTSC system combines toxicity information with short or long-term exposure information to determine the risks associated with the chemicals. Under section 57004 of the California Health and Safety Code, the scientific basis of the proposed waste classification system is subject to external scientific peer review by the National Academy of Sciences, the University of California, or other similar institution of higher learning or group of scientists. This report addresses that regulatory requirement.
Author: 
Author: