Total and Inorganic Arsenic in Mid-Atlantic Marine Fish and Shellfish and Implications for Fish Advisories
Up to 33.3 metric tons of arsenic trioxide were spilled off the Middle Atlantic coast of the United States in January of 1992 during a shipping accident. Historical fish tissue data for samples collected in the Delaware Inland Bays before and after the spill reveal a prominent spike in total arsenic in summer flounder following the spill and a gradual decline ever since. In 2002, a small study was conducted to determine whether summer flounder migrating into the Delaware Inland Bays from the Continental Shelf in the spring contain higher body burdens of arsenic than summer flounder migrating out of the Inland Bays in the fall. Total arsenic was significantly higher in the incoming fish. Considering that summer flounder overwinter at the spill site, that arsenic trioxide is a dense powder of limited solubility that would tend to incorporate into the sediments, and that summer flounder are demersal fish, we conclude that summer flounder accumulate arsenic offshore and that the likely source of their extra body burden is the spilled arsenic. Speciation of arsenic in the summer flounder, as well as in Atlantic croaker, striped bass, and hard clam reveal low concentrations (0.5 ? 20 ug/kg ww) of toxic inorganic arsenic. DMA was more than an order of magnitude greater in hard clam meats than in the other species tested, a finding attributed to arsenic uptake by phytoplankton and subsequent dietary uptake by the clam. Risk assessment using the inorganic arsenic concentrations was used to conclude that a fish advisory is not warranted.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 896772
- Report Number(s):
- PNWD-SA-6989; TRN: US200704%%74
- Journal Information:
- Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 2(4):344-354, Journal Name: Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 2(4):344-354
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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