DISTRIBUTION OF POLYBROMINATED DIPHENYL ETHERS IN GREAT LAKES FISH

Authors: HICKEY, J - USGS, ANN ARBOR; CHERNYAK, S - USGS, ANN ARBOR; Rice, Clifford; QUINTAL, R - USGS, ANN ARBOR; BEGNOCHE, L - USGS, ANN ARBOR

Submitted to: Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC)
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/11/2001
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are an emerging contaminant issue in the Great Lakes ecosystem. The USGS-Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC) developed an analytical method and started to routinely monitor PBDEs in Great Lakes fish along with other global contaminants. The relative composition of PBDEs in fish collected from the Des Plaines River (Illinois), Detroit River (Michigan), Saugatuck (Lake Michigan), and Hammond Bay (Lake Huron) was studied at GLSC starting in 1999. Fish analyzed were common carp (Cyprinus carpio), smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui), largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), and brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus). Detectable concentrations of PBDEs were reported in all fish sampled. Fish showed varied PBDE patterns at different sites and correlated closely with PBDE levels found in sediments, air, and water at corresponding locations.