San Francisco Bay

Solar salt operations can be found along the shores of the Great Salt Lake and in the San Francisco Bay area (6—10). Salt production from these areas represents 10% of the total salt produced in the United States. 

The environmental impact of PCNs has not been extensively investigated and PCNs are not routinely measured in analytical studies of extracts from environmental samples. However, PCNs have been identified in birds of prey in Britain (69) and The Netherlands (70), in a drainage ditch in Florida, and in sediments from San Francisco Bay (71). 

The water supply to the Delta comes predominantly from the Sacramento River ( 80%) with lesser amounts from the San Joaquin River ( 15%) and rivers on the east side of the Delta ( 5%). Year-to-year variability in water supply is large. Combined average annual unimpaired runoff (an estimate of flows without upstream dams or diversions) for the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers for the past century ranges from 6.2 km in 1977 to 68 km in 1983 [2]. The percentage of freshwater flows that go to San Francisco Bay are estimated to be 87% in wet years, 69% in average years, and 51% in dry years. Climate variability associated with the Mediterranean chmate of the region is an essential component of the Delta ecosystem. 

Another contaminant of concern for the Delta is Se. Selenium occurs in high concentrations in the soils of the western San Joaquin Valley associated with salts that have accumulated in this region [10]. Selenium is recycled through agricultural retom flows to the river and transported to the Delta and San Francisco Bay. The Se is transformed into a more bioavailable form by microbial communities and aquatic plants. The Se is passed through the foodweb with particular concern for bottomfeeding migratory waterfowl and predatory fishes. The hydrodynamics of water from the San Joaquin River is an important consideration in the intensity and distribution of Se contamination within the Delta. 

Presser TS, Luoma SN (2006) Forecasting selenium discharges to the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary ecological effects of a proposed San Luis drain extension. United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 1646, Menlo Park, California. 

HORN-ROSS P L, HOGGATT K J, LEE M M (2002) Phytoestrogeus and thyroid cancer risk the San Francisco bay area thyroid cancer study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 11 43-9. 

An inverse correlation between thyroid cancer risk and phytoestrogens was recently proposed as a result of a multi-ethnic population-based case control study conducted in the San Francisco Bay Area (Hom-Ross et al., 2002). In this study, dietary habits and phytoestrogen consumption were assessed by a food-frequency questionnaire and by a nutrient database. The outcome of the study was that soy-based foods and alfalfa sprouts were associated with a reduction of thyroid cancer risk, whereas a Western diet did not influence cancer risk. No difference was observed between American and Asian women or between pre- and postmenopausal women. Furthermore, among the few compounds examined, the isoflavones genistein and daidzein and the lignan secoisolariciresinol were the phytoestrogens most frequently associated with risk reduction (Horn-Ross et al., 2002). 

Hoffman DJ, Ohlendorf HM, Mam CM, Pendleton GW. 1998. Association of mercury and selenium with altered glutathione metabolism and oxidative stress in diving ducks from the San Francisco Bay region, USA. Environ Toxicol Chem 17 167-172. 

Hothem RL, Roster DL, King KA, Keldsen TK, Marois KC, Wainwright SE. 1995. Spatial and temporal trends of contaminants in eggs of wading birds from San Francisco Bay, California. Environ Toxicol Chem 14 1319-1331. 

Fuller CC, van Geen A, Baskaran M, Anima R (1999) Sediment chronology in San Francisco Bay, California, defined by °Pb, and Marine Chem 64 7-27... 

An inscribed thick plate of brass attributed to the landing, in 1579, of Francis Drake on the coast of California, is retained in safekeeping at the University of California, Berkeley. Since its discovery, in the San Francisco Bay area in 1936, however, there have been doubts about the authenticity of the plate, although an early chemical study had apparently confirmed its authenticity. Regardless of this initial study, doubts about the origin of the plate persisted, and a new study, based on the composition of the brass as determined by neutron activation, X-rays fluorescence, and atomic absorption analysis was initiated to reevaluate the earlier authentication of the plate. The results of this study were then compared with the composition typical of brass from Drake s time as well as from modem brass, and it was then concluded that the plate was probably made during the latter part of the nineteenth century or the early years of the twentieth century (Hedges 1979). 

Gee and Bruland [953] used 61Ni, 65Cu, and 68Zn in waters collected in San Francisco Bay to trace the kinetics of nickel, copper, and zinc exchange between dissolved and particulate phases. The technique involved an organic ligand sequential extraction followed by analysis with high-resolution ICP-MS. 

Fam et al. [11] determined hydrocarbons in run-off water from catchments in San Francisco Bay using liquid chromatography and high-resolution gas chromatography. 

Ohlendorf, H.M., K.C. Marois, R.W. Lowe, T.E. Harvey, and P.R. Kelly. 1991. Trace elements and organochlo-rines in surf scoters from San Francisco Bay, 1985. Environ. Monitor. Assess. 18 105-122. 

Rodents Rodents 3 species San Francisco Bay, CA 1989 pickleweed habitat kidney ... 

Clark, D.R., Jr., K.S. Foerster, C.M. Mam, and R.L. Hothem. 1992. Uptake of environmental contaminants by small mammals in pickleweed habitats at San Francisco Bay, California. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 22 389-396. 

Olson, B.H. and R.C. Cooper. 1976. Comparison of aerobic and anaerobic methylation of mercuric chloride by San Francisco Bay sediments. Water Res. 10 113-116. 

Silver concentrations in muscle of Antarctic birds were low (0.01 mg/kg DW) when compared to livers (0.02 to 0.46 mg/kg DW) or feces (0.18 mg/kg DW Szefer et al. 1993). Silver concentrations in avian tissues, especially in livers, were elevated in the vicinity of metals-contaminated areas and in diving ducks from the San Francisco Bay (Table 7.5). Birds with elevated concentrations of silver in tissues — as much as 44 mg/kg DW in liver in the common eider (Somateria mollissima) — seemed outwardly unaffected (Bryan and Langston 1992). 

Baltic clam, Macoma baithica soft parts San Francisco Bay ... 

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