Trends in concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls in fish tissue
from selected sites in the Delaware River basin in New Jersey, New York, and
Pennsylvania, 1969-98
by Karen Riva-Murray, Robin A. Brightbill, and Michael D. Bilger
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Water-Resources Investigations Report 01-4066
ABSTRACT
Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations in
fish tissue collected during the 1990's from selected sites in the
Delaware River Basin were compared with concentrations in fish tissue
collected during 1969-88. Data collected by State and Federal agencies on
concentrations in whole-body common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and white
sucker (Catostomus commersoni), and edible portions of American eel
(Anguilla rostrata), smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu),
and channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) during 1969-98 were compiled
to define temporal trends in concentrations of PCBs in fish tissue from
selected segments of the Delaware River, Lehigh River, Schuylkill River, and
Brandywine Creek.
The Delaware River in the vicinity of Trenton, New Jersey and Yardley,
Pennsylvania (above the tidal influence) had the largest long-term data set
among the sites considered for this study and was the only site with
sufficient data for statistical analysis. A general pattern of decline in PCB
concentrations during 1969-98 was apparent for this river segment. PCB
concentrations in whole-body white sucker from this lower Delaware River
segment declined during 1969-98 from a highest concentration of 7 micrograms
per gram (µg/g, wet weight) in a sample collected during 1972 to
0.26 µg/g (wet weight) in a sample collected during 1998. PCB
concentration was negatively correlated with year (Spearman rank
correlation -0.46, p < 0.08, n = 15); especially after removal of a sample
from 1977 with an unusually low concentration (Spearman rank correlation
-0.53, p = 0.05, n = 14). PCB concentrations in edible flesh of American eel
declined during 1975-95, from a highest concentration of 3.8 µg/g (wet
weight) in a sample collected during 1976 to less than the reporting limit
of 0.26 µg/g (wet weight) in samples collected during 1993 and 1995. PCB
concentrations in most samples (for species considered in this study)
collected from the lower Delaware River exceeded the National Academy of
Sciences and National Academy of Engineering (NAS/NAE) wildlife guideline
level of 0.5 µg/g during the 1970's and 1980's, and decreased to below
this level during the 1990's. No samples of edible portions of game fish
exceeded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tolerance level by the
mid 1980's. However, the PCB concentration in a smallmouth bass fillet
sample that was collected during 1998 (0.37 µg/g) exceeded the
Pennsylvania fish-consumption advisory level of 0.06 µg/g, and the
concentrations in whole-body common carp and white sucker collected during
1998 (1.10 µg/g and 0.26 µg/g, respectively) exceeded the New York
State Department of Environmental Conservation wildlife criterion
concentration of 0.11 µg/g. (The concentration in carp also exceeded the
1973 NAS/NAE wildlife guideline concentration of
0.5 µg/g.)
Graphical analysis of PCB concentrations in whole white sucker and (or)
edible portions of American eel from the upper Delaware River, lower Delaware
River, middle Schuylkill River, and Brandywine Creek indicate a decline from
the 1970's and (or) 1980's to the middle to late 1990's. Temporal trends in
PCB concentrations in white sucker samples from the lower Lehigh and
Schuylkill Rivers during 1979-98 are less clear; the PCB concentration
(wet-weight basis) from a sample collected in 1998 from the lower Lehigh
River was similar to that from a sample collected in 1979, and concentrations
actually increased during 1982-98. Similarly, PCB concentrations in samples
of white sucker and American eel from the lower Schuylkill River were highly
variable over time. A decrease in lipid-adjusted PCB concentrations at both
sites (for several white sucker samples with available lipid data) indicates
that differences in fat content could be masking actual declines at these
sites, but the data are insufficient for further interpretation. The
available data indicate a slower rate of decline in PCB concentrations in
fish from the lower Lehigh and Schuylkill Rivers than in fish from the other
rivers considered in this study.
The highest PCB concentrations in whole-body white sucker and common carp
collected during 1998 from the study sites were in specimens from the lower
Schuylkill River. These concentrations (4.0 µg/g and 0.89 µg/g,
respectively) exceeded the national geometric mean concentration for
whole-body fish in 1979 reported by the National Contaminant Biomonitoring
Program. Recent (1994-1998) site-to-site differences in PCB concentrations in
fish tissue, and in the patterns of decline since the 1970's and 1980's,
correspond with amounts of urban-industrial land, population density, and
point sources within watersheds, and may also be related to the retention,
resuspension, and movement of PCB-contaminated sediment from a variety of
sources. Most sites studied indicate a decline in fish tissue PCB
concentrations since the 1970's and 1980's, but concentrations in certain
species at some sites remain sufficiently high by the mid- to late- 1990's
to pose concern for human and wildlife health.
Citation: Riva-Murray, K., Brightbill, R.A., and Bilger, M.D., 2003,
Trends in concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls in fish tissue from
selected sites in the Delaware River basin in New Jersey, New York, and
Pennsylvania, 1969-98: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources
Investigations Report 01-4066, p. 19.
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