National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA)

Heinz Center Report--The State of the Nation's Ecosystems

 Pesticides and PCB's in freshwater fish tissue

Organochlorine pesticides, semi-volatile organic compounds and trace elements  were used as chemical indicators of contaminants in  fish tissue for the Core National indicator. 

For tissue, only samples of fish species were used in the dataset; insect, clam, and other invertebrate samples were excluded to maintain comparability in a national context. Bottom feeding fish, for example carp (Cyprinus carpio), were preferentially collected over other species. Only whole fish samples were used for analysis of semi-volatile and organochlorine compounds and fish liver samples were analyzed for trace elements

 Constituents sampled   [Trace elements]   [Organic compounds]

Standards and guidelines [Trace elements]  [Organic compounds]

For additional information

 

U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey Last update: Monday, May 13, 2002 09:51:50 AM Privacy Statement || Disclaimer || Accessibility