Ecological risk assessment of small mammals at a zinc smelter
Conference
·
OSTI ID:367507
- PTI Environmental Services, Bellevue, WA (United States)
A baseline ecological risk assessment (ERA) was conducted on a 200-acre prairie habitat (study area) immediately south of the National Zinc Site (NZS) in Bartlesville, OK, to evaluate the potential risk to small mammals from exposure to historical emissions of cadmium, lead, and zinc. The zinc facility was operated with horizontal retort smelters from 1907 until 1976 when the facility was converted to an electrolytic operation. Soil concentrations of cadmium on the study area ranged from 25 to 144 mg/kg (dw), lead from 84 to 485 mg/kg (dw), and zinc from 1,530 to 7,170 mg/kg (dw). Receptors species were the white-footed deer mouse and hispid cotton rat, common residents of the area that represent exposure through the ingestion pathways of vegetation, invertebrates, water, and soil. Assessment endpoints of this ERA were reproductive impairment and population reduction, with measurement endpoints being the mean number of embryos and implantation sites in females, reproductive condition of males, and population age structure and growth. No evidence of reproductive or growth impairment related to metals was found in either species, reproductive activity of hispid cotton rats on the study area was higher than on reference sites, and no difference in population age structure was detected. Receptor populations did show evidence of effects related to physical stressors (100-year flood event followed by record heat, drought and more flooding) that occurred prior to initiation of the study in September. Results of a food-web model of exposure for white-footed mice indicated no risk from metals concentrations in the diet. The results of this baseline ERA indicate that the concentrations of cadmium, lead, and zinc on the study area do not pose a significant risk to small mammal populations.
- OSTI ID:
- 367507
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9511137--; ISBN 1-880611-03-1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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