Fish consumption

States have made substantial recent progress in the adoption, and EPA approval, of toxic pollutant water-quahty standards. Furthermore, virtually all states have at least proposed new toxics criteria for priority toxic pollutants since Section 303 (c) (2) (B) was added to the CWA in February of 1987. Unfortunately, not all such state proposals address, in a comprehensive manner, the requirements or Section 303 (c) (2) (B). For example, some states have proposed to adopt criteria to protect aquatic hfe, but not human health other states have proposed human health criteria that do not address major exposure pathways (such as the combination of both fish consumption and drinking water). In addition, in some cases final adoption or proposed state toxics criteria that would be approved by EPA has been substantially delayed due to controversial and difficult issues associated with the toxic pollutant criteria adoption process. 

Hawaii Heaith guideiines appiicabieto aii water Freshwater acute chronic Saitwater acute chronic Fish consumption 0.22 pg/L 0.056 pg/L 0.034 pg/L 0.0087 pg/L 52 pg/L Hawaii Department of Heaith 1999... 

RfD = reference dose, 0.00005 mg/(kg-day) for alpha-, beta-endosulfan, and endosulfan sulfate FCR = fish consumption rate, set at 0.030 kg/day... 

While methylmercury occurs naturally in tlie environment, it is reasonable to expect that methylmercury levels have increased in modem times as a result of increased inorganic mercury concentrations. Whether methylmercmy concentrations have increased to a similar extent as inoiganic mercuiy is not known. It is clear, however, that elevated fish mercuiy concentrations can currently be found in remote lakes, rivers, reservoirs, estuaries, and marine conditions, typically in predators such as sportfish at the top of food webs. As of 2003, 45 states had fish consumption advisories related to mercuiy, and 76% of all fish consumption advisories in the United States were at least partly related to mercury (USEPA 2004a). The number of advisories is increasing with time, although this is due at least partly to more sites being sampled (Wiener et al. 2003). 

Relevance. A key criterion in the selection of biological indicators is relevance to human and ecological health and to the development of policy. Fish are directly relevant, for example, given that consumption of fish is the primary pathway for exposure to MeHg. The concentration of MeHg in fish is also a key variable in the issuance of fish-consumption advisories. 

In the United States, the threshold mercury concentration for commercial sale of fish is determined by the Food and Drag Administration, whereas consumption advice for recreational (noncommercial) fish is developed by individual states and tribes. Mercury data collected for development of fish-consumption advisories are typically from analyses of filets (axial muscle tissue, with or without skin) for total mercury, with concentrations expressed on a wet-weight basis. Analysis of filets for total mercury yields a valid estimate of MeHg concentration (Grieb et al. 1990 Bloom 1992), whether the analyzed sample consists of a large filet or a small mass of tissue obtained with a biopsy needle (Cizdziel et al. 2002 Baker et al. 2004). 

Birke G, Johnels AG, Plantin LO, Sjostrand B, Skerfving S, Westermark T. 1972. Studies on humans exposed to methyl mercury through fish consumption. Arch Environ Health 25 77-91. 

Long-range atmospheric transport of Hg from fossil fuel combustion and solid waste incineration has increased Hg in freshwater and biota. In the United States, combustion of fossil fuels for power generation is estimated to generate about 30% of the total release of Hg into the atmosphere (Harriss and Hohenemser, 1978). One in every three lakes in the United States and nearly one-quarter of the nation s rivers contain various pollutants, including Hg (CNN, 2004). Forty States in the U.S. have issued advisories for methylmercury on selected water-bodies, and 13 states have statewide advisories for some or all sportfish from rivers or lakes (USGS, 2000). Fish consumption advisories for methylmercury account for more than three-quarters of all fish consumption advisories. 

Human intake of total mercury from the diet normally ranges between 7 and 16 pg daily (Schumacher et al. 1994 Richardson et al. 1995). Fish consumption accounts for much of this exposure in the form of methylmercury 27% of the intake, and 40% of the absorbed dose. Intake of inorganic mercury arises primarily from foods other than fish, and is estimated at 1.8 pg daily with 0.18 pg absorbed daily (Richardson etal. 1995). In certain areas of India, blood mercury concentrations of people who ate fish were three to four times higher than non-fish eaters (Srinivasen and Mahajan 1989). In some countries, mercury in dental amalgams accounts for 2.8 pg daily, equivalent to as much as 36% of the total mercury intake and 42% of the absorbed dose (USPHS... 

Fish consumption advisory (mg total Hg/kg FW edible aquatic product) ... 

In humans, total PCB concentrations in maternal milk were elevated (>1.1 mg/kg milk fat) in 4 of 122 cases in the New Bedford Harbor vicinity, Massachusetts (Korrick and Altshul 1998). At least one female was occupationally exposed, as judged by the congener profile and history. PCB exposures from fish consumption were likely, but not from residence adjacent to a PCB-contami-nated site. In all four cases, their newborns were full-term and healthy (Korrick and Altshul 1998). 

EPA. 1995b. The national listing of fish consumption advisories and bans. Washington DC U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office ofWater. EPA-823-C-95-001. 

The high BCF values observed for chlordecone (>60,000) indicate that the compound will be found in high concentrations in aquatic organisms that dwell in waters or sediments contaminated with chlordecone. Chlordecone has been detected in fish and shellfish from the James River, which empties into the Chesapeake Bay, at levels in the pg/g (ppm) range. There is currently a fish consumption advisory in effect for the lower 113 miles of the James River. Chlordecone residues were detected in foods analyzed from 1978-1982 and 1982-1986 as part of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Pesticide Residue Monitoring Studies. Chlordecone was detected in one of 27,065 food samples analyzed by 10 state laboratories, but was not detected in the more recent FDA Pesticide Residue Monitoring Studies from 1986 to 1991. No information on the specific foods in which residues were found or levels detected was located. 

Mean concentrations of mirex in the muscle tissue were below fish consumption guidelines for mirex (100 pg/kg [ppb]) and ranged from not detectable to 3.95 pg/kg (ppb). However, mirex concentrations in older turtles from some sites were as high as 9.3 pg/kg (ppb). However, mirex... 

An analysis of potential human exposure to contaminants in drinking water and foods was conducted in Ontario, Canada, in 1980. Mirex was detected only in edible fish taken from Toronto Harbor on Lake Ontario. The average mirex concentrations were 0.001 mg/kg (ppm) wet weight for white sucker, 0.01 mg/kg wet weight for rainbow trout, and 0.033 mg/kg wet weight for northern pike. Estimated human exposure levels, based on an average fish consumption of 0.53 kg/year for each fish species, were 0.0005 for white sucker, 0.0005 for rainbow trout, and 0.017 mg/year for northern pike, respectively (Davies 1990). 

Mirex contamination has triggered the issuance of several human health advisories nationwide. As of September 1993, mirex was identified as the causative pollutant in eight fish consumption advisories in three different states. This information is summarized below (RTI 1993) ... 

Shubat, P.J., Raatz, K.A. and Olson, R.A., Fish consumption advisories and outreach programs for Southeast Asian immigrants, Toxicol. Ind. Health, 12, 3-4, 427, 1996. 

Simoneau, C., Theobald, A., Wiltschko, D. and Anklam, E. (1999). Estimation of intake of bisphenol-A-diglicidyl-ether (BADGE) from canned fish consumption in Europe and migration survey, Food Addit. Contam., 16, 11, 457-463. 

Pharmacokinetics has played a crucial and somewhat unusual role in the assessment of health risks from methylmercury. Some of the epidemiology studies of this fish contaminant involved the measurement of mercury levels in the hair of pregnant women, and subsequent measurements of health outcomes in their offspring (Chapter 4). Various sets of pharmacokinetic data allowed estimation of the level of methylmercury intake through fish consumption (its only source) that gave rise to the measured levels in hair. In this way it was possible to identify the dose-response relationship in terms of intake, not hair level. Once the dose-response relationship was established in this way, the EPA was able to follow its usual procedure for establishing an RfD (which is 0.1 ag/(kg b.w. day)). 

Since chloroform is highly volatile and shows little tendency to bioconcentrate or bioaccumulate in higher life forms such as fishes, it is not ordinarily included in the types of persistent pollutants that are the focus of state fish consumption advisory programs. Information from HazDat (1996) does document detections of chloroform in tissues from fishes from at least 3 current or past NPL sites. 

AZ Domestic Water Source (DWS) Fish Consumption (FC) Full Body Contact (FBC) Partial Body Contact (PBC) TTHM 590 jjglL 230 p g/L 1400 p g/L ... 

HI Maximum organic contaminant level Total trihalomethane (TTHM) (TTHM = the sum of the concentration of bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane and chloroform) Fresh water Salt water Fish consumption Acute 9,600 jjglL ns 5.1 Chronic ns ns ... 

MMHg is UpophiUc, causing it to bioaccumulate and biomagnify through the marine food web. About 85 to 95% of the total mercury in fish is MMHg, most of which is the result of biomagnification. Marine fish consumption accoimts far most of the mercury burden in... 

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