Spatial gradients of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides were examined in the young-of-the-year (YOY) blue¿sh collected in the vicinity of a PCB Superfund Site in New Bedford Harbor, Massachusetts, and in the adjacent waters.

The National Contaminant Biomonitoring Program (NCBP), which was developed and maintained by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), monitored concentrations of environmental contaminants in freshwater fish over a period of about 20 years. Beginning in the 1960s as a component of the multi-agency National Pesticide Monitoring Program (NPMP) and continuing through the mid-1980s, freshwater fish were periodically collected from a national network of stations for analysis of pesticides, PCBs, and other contaminants. The NPMP/NCBP database of contaminant concentrations is the most extensive of its kind, unique in its breadth and depth with respect to environmental contaminant concentrations in fish. The data and information from the NCBP are sought often by a national and international clientele; especially frequent users are biologists in FWS field offices and USGS Water Science Centers. The fish network was suspended by FWS in 1986 pending development of the Biomonitoring of Environmental Status and Trends (BEST) program. The BEST program and the NPMP/NCBP database were transferred to the National Biological Survey/Service (NBS) in 1993. At that time ongoing studies by NBS Inventory and Monitoring (I and M) and the USGS National Water Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) generated new data at NCBP sites. The database was subsequently (1996) transferred to USGS. The database derived from the NCBP is unique in its ability to characterize the exposure of free-ranging organisms, including threatened and endangered species, to toxic contaminants.

The National Contaminant Biomonitoring Program (NCBP), which was developed and maintained by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), monitored concentrations of environmental contaminants in freshwater fish over a period of about 20 years. Beginning in the 1960s as a component of the multi-agency National Pesticide Monitoring Program (NPMP) and continuing through the mid-1980s, freshwater fish were periodically collected from a national network of stations for analysis of pesticides, PCBs, and other contaminants. The NPMP/NCBP database of contaminant concentrations is the most extensive of its kind, unique in its breadth and depth with respect to environmental contaminant concentrations in fish. The data and information from the NCBP are sought often by a national and international clientele; especially frequent users are biologists in FWS field offices and USGS Water Science Centers. The fish network was suspended by FWS in 1986 pending development of the Biomonitoring of Environmental Status and Trends (BEST) program. The BEST program and the NPMP/NCBP database were transferred to the National Biological Survey/Service (NBS) in 1993. At that time ongoing studies by NBS Inventory and Monitoring (I and M) and the USGS National Water Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) generated new data at NCBP sites. The database was subsequently (1996) transferred to USGS. The database derived from the NCBP is unique in its ability to characterize the exposure of free-ranging organisms, including threatened and endangered species, to toxic contaminants.

This study was based on the sediment quality triad (SQT) approach. A stratified probabilistic sampling design was utilized to characterize the Delaware Bay system in terms of chemical contamination, sediment toxicity (Microtox, amphipod bioassay; sea urchin gamete bioassay; and P450 biomarker) and benthic infaunal community structure. The purpose was to define the extent and magnitude of toxicity and other biological effects associated with contaminants in the Delaware estuary system from the fall line to the mouth of the Bay. This file contains data measured in the Delaware Bay Estuary and adjacent waters during 1997. Samples were collected for water and sediment analyses.

In June 2019, the U.S. Geological Survey Maryland-Delaware-District of Columbia Water Science Center (MD-DE-DC WSC) team began to collect and inventory available information on toxic contaminants within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. State agencies were contacted to determine available data. Also, the National Water Information System (NWIS) and National Water Quality Database (NWQD) were queried to gather relevant data for the compilation. The resulting tables contain records for available sites where specific analyte groups, Hg (mercury), PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls), or pesticides, have been collected with appropriate supplemental metadata including media, method, time frame, and frequency of collection. Sample results span 1972-2019. Files included in the data release: Basic_Table.csv Detailed_Table.csv NWIS_PCodes.csv State_Result_Totals.csv NWIS_Result_Totals.csv

In June 2019, the U.S. Geological Survey Maryland-Delaware-District of Columbia Water Science Center (MD-DE-DC WSC) team began to collect and inventory available information on toxic contaminants within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. State agencies were contacted to determine available data. Also, the National Water Information System (NWIS) and National Water Quality Database (NWQD) were queried to gather relevant data for the compilation. The resulting tables contain records for available sites where specific analyte groups, Hg (mercury), PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls), or pesticides, have been collected with appropriate supplemental metadata including media, method, time frame, and frequency of collection. Sample results span 1972-2019. Files included in the data release: Basic_Table.csv Detailed_Table.csv NWIS_PCodes.csv State_Result_Totals.csv NWIS_Result_Totals.csv

Long-running science support for the agency (Office of Protected Resources, others) related to the use of modern pesticides throughout the United States as a limiting factor for endangered species conservation and recovery. This work is currently supporting several national ESA Biological Opinions, and is under review by the National Academy of Sciences. The NAS panel recommendations are expected in the summer of 2013, and these will guide additional research in FY14 and beyond. Analyses of water and tissue samples for pesticides.

The endangered St. Lawrence Estuary (SLE) beluga population is in decline and has shown no signs of recovery despite multiple protection measures. Changes in prey availability and exposure to organohalogen contaminants have been proposed as potential factors limiting the its recovery. Studies on SLE belugas show that exposure to contaminants may actually disrupt the individual’s energy metabolism. However, whether this translates into changes in energy reserves and body condition of individuals is still unknown. This dataset was developed to study the potential relationships between the body condition of individuals and their concentrations of organohalogen contaminants and lipid metabolites. The sampling consisted in the recovery of 51 beluga carcasses (37 females and 14 males) stranded in the St. Lawrence estuary between 1998 and 2016 and deemed fresh enough (Geraci-Lounsbury code = <3) to undergo a laboratory necropsy. The necropsy included the following procedures: determination of cause of death, morphometric measurements, sampling of the outer layer of blubber, age measurement and assessment of physical condition. The blubber samples were then subjected to lipid extraction and measurement of their concentration of polybrominated or emerging flame retardants, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides. Their concentration of the following lipid metabolites were also measured: fatty acids, acylcarnitines, lysophosphatidylcholines, phosphatidylcholines and sphingomyelins. The methods are described in further detail in Bernier-Graveline et al. (2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.110272). Data quality control procedures included triplicate analyses of method blanks and standard reference material. This dataset contains morphometric measurements, sex and age, cause of death, a body condition index, the relative proportion of lipids in blubber, the concentration of polybrominated or emerging flame retardants, polychlorinated biphenyls ( PCB) and organochlorine pesticides and derived products. The contact for the main co-authors of Bernier-Graveline et al. (2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.110272) are included in the file "Authors_contact_auteurs.pdf"

Fish tissue from 203 samples collected at five locations in the Niagara River Area of Concern in 2018 were analyzed for a wide range of analytes including Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides (E1 and E2), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), organochlorine and other persistent organic compounds, metals, lipid and moisture. Over 230 analytes were analyzed in the tissue samples, including 160 PCB congeners. Fish tissues from a subset of the sites (n=40) were also analyzed for Dioxins and Furans. The data set includes a variety of laboratory quality assurance data including sample replicates, laboratory blank data, laboratory spike data, matrix spike recoveries, and replicate matrix spike recoveries.

This dataset contains concentrations of 25 organochlorine pesticides, 6 industrial or personal care products, 6 polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardant congeners, and 15 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners in brain, muscle, gonad, and liver tissues of white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus). All concentrations are reported on a wet-weight basis. Fish samples were collected from the Columbia River directly adjacent to and immediately downstream from the Hanford Site in Washington State. The site was used as a weapons-grade plutonium plant from 1944 to 1987, at which time liquid effluents were discharged directly into the Columbia River. Contaminants from past and present waste leaks from the Hanford Site can accumulate in fish residing in the Columbia River. However, contaminants from additional sources (mining, smelting, pulp and paper production, agricultural runoff, atmospheric deposition, and permitted municipal and urban discharges) can also accumulate in fish residing in the river. The sturgeon individuals sampled for this dataset were used to assess the nature and extent of non-radionuclide chemical contamination in fish in the Columbia River at the Hanford Site. Tissues from 16 individual fish were composited into 5 samples to meet the mass requirements for the chemical analyses.