Evaluation of contaminants and their potential biological effects in Great Lakes tributaries

Dates

Acquisition: 2016

Summary

Description of Work The first major goal of this project is to characterize and evaluate the extent to which contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) threaten fish and other wildlife in the Great Lakes. This includes identifying and characterizing CECs in the Great Lakes Basin, identifying risk-based screening concentrations for priority CECs, evaluating population-relevant effects of complex mixtures on biota, and identifying the Great Lakes waterways at greatest risk. The second major goal of this project is to pilot and develop a short-term and an ongoing long-term state-of-the-art bioeffects surveillance program for the Great Lakes basin. This includes developing strategies which will account for variable conditions at sampling [...]

Summary

Description of Work

The first major goal of this project is to characterize and evaluate the extent to which contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) threaten fish and other wildlife in the Great Lakes. This includes identifying and characterizing CECs in the Great Lakes Basin, identifying risk-based screening concentrations for priority CECs, evaluating population-relevant effects of complex mixtures on biota, and identifying the Great Lakes waterways at greatest risk. The second major goal of this project is to pilot and develop a short-term and an ongoing long-term state-of-the-art bioeffects surveillance program for the Great Lakes basin. This includes developing strategies which will account for variable conditions at sampling locations, implementing bioeffects surveillance tools for initial, broad CEC characterization, and demonstrating the application of targeted bioeffects approaches for detailed characterization of status and trends of CECs. A collaboration of federal and academic partners are working together to achieve these objectives.

The goals described above will be achieved through three separate, but integrated study components, as shown in the flow diagram below.

Flow diagram showing the three major components of the project and the flow of work (indicated by arrows) designed to meet the Major Goals of GLRI Action Plan II, Objective 1.2.2.

Flow diagram showing the three major components of the project and the flow of work (indicated by arrows) designed to meet the Major Goals of GLRI Action Plan II, Objective 1.2.2.

GLRI Phase II assessments are being conducted at two spatial scales. The Surveillance Program (SP) component is being conducted at the Great Lakes basin-wide scale, and the Integrated Assessment Case Studies (IACS) and Priority Contaminant Mixtures (PCM) components are being conducted at an individual watershed scale. Selected sites include a gradient of land uses at both scales. Sites are also selected based on chemistry and bioactivity data from GLRI Phase I surveys to provide a range of contaminants and ecological impacts.

The primary involvement by the USGS is within the SP. The SP was designed to characterize variability of contaminant concentrations and potential biological effects in selected watersheds. Each year, watersheds/tributaries are selected to represent a variety of land uses for that year’s contaminants of focus. Multiple Great Lakes watersheds/tributaries are sampled for water, sediment, and assays for evaluation of potential bioeffects. Seasonal and hydrologic variability is assessed by sampling throughout the year during a variety of streamflow conditions. Temporal variability is also assessed by maintaining a subset of contaminants that are evaluated consistently each year of the project.

An extended list of selected classes of chemicals is chosen and monitored each year to collect more in-depth information. Contaminants in the extended list are prioritized based on previous data, known or suspected adverse biological effects, risk-based exceedances (i.e., “concentrations of concern”), and recent CEC research. Contaminant classes that have been chosen to date include pesticides (2016), PAHs (2017) and pharmaceutical/personal care products (2018). Results are compared with aquatic toxicity and other general bioeffect benchmark values to determine potential for adverse biological effects. Analysis on selected samples also includes bioeffects evaluation, including in vivo and high through-put in vitro exposures (metabolomics, transcriptomics, and ToxCast). The bioeffects measurements will include targeted and untargeted analyses, as appropriate to a given watershed/location. Chemical analysis in mussels, fish, and birds are conducted by project partners near SP sampling sites (where practical).

Key Findings

The first five years of work on the SP included the establishment of a general monitoring program at 57 sites for a limited number of trace organic chemicals that represented multiple classes of contaminants, a waterborne pathogen investigation at 8 sites, and an investigation of microplastics at 29 sites.

Water-quality benchmarks were exceeded at 35% of the 57 sites monitored for trace organic chemicals. The most frequent water-quality benchmark exceedances were from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pesticides, and detergent metabolites. In addition, comparison to estrogenic equivalency values for those chemicals that have been shown to be endocrine active indicated that there was medium to high risk of estrogenic effects at 18% of sites, with 3 sites having estrogenic equivalents similar to wastewater effluent. Chemicals commonly occurred as complex mixtures of 10 or more. Urban related land-use characteristics were commonly correlated to multiple classes of contaminants.

In the waterborne pathogen study, human and bovine viruses were detected in 17% and 18% of samples respectively with viruses occurring more frequently during winter and spring as compared to summer and fall, and more frequently during runoff-events than during low-flow periods. Human viruses occurred most frequently in urban watersheds, while bovine viruses occurred most frequently in agricultural watersheds with substantial dairy operations.

In the microplastics study, microplastics were found in all 107 samples collected from 29 tributaries of the Great Lakes, with a maximum concentration of 32 particles/m ³ and a median of 1.9 particles/m ³ -- 94 times greater than the median concentration previously reported for samples from the Great Lakes themselves. Fragments, films, foams, and pellets/beads were positively correlated with urban-related watershed attributes, and were found at greater concentrations during runoff-event conditions. Fibers, the most frequently detected particle type, were not associated with urban-related watershed attributes, wastewater effluent contribution, or hydrologic condition. Results from this study improve our understanding of the sources, transport, and fate of microplastics in freshwater environments, and highlight some of the differences in microplastics types in surface samples from rivers as compared to lakes. More information is available at the microplastics web site (https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/55a9170be4b0183d66e4667e).

Products

ToxEval: a software package to facilitate screening water chemistry data to estimate the potential for adverse biological effects (currently only available to project participants).

A dataset describing the quantity and morphology of floating microplastics in 29 Great Lakes tributaries in 6 states is located here: https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/5748a29be4b07e28b664dd62. Samples were collected in spring 2014 – spring 2015. Each tributary was sampled three to four times, capturing low-flow and runoff-event conditions. These data are interpreted in a journal article (pending).

Child Items (1)

View children in Folder

Search children

Microplastics in 29 Great Lakes tributaries (2014-15)

Contacts

Principal Investigator :: Steven R Corsi
Associate Project Chief :: John F Walker
Cooperator/Partner :: US Fish and Wildlife Service (Bloomington, MN), Columbia Environmental Research Center, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, USGS National Water Quality Laboratory, USGS Wisconsin Water Science Center, Minnesota Water Science Center, Michigan Water Science Center, Indiana Water Science Center, Ohio Water Science Center, New York Water Science Center, US Environmental Protection Agency/ORD/ (offices in Athens, GA, Cincinnati, OH, and Duluth, MN), US Environmental Protection Agency/Great Lakes National Program Office (Chicago), Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE)/Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) (Vicksburg, MS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (Silver Spring, MD), St. Cloud State University (St. Cloud, MN), University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, MN)

Attached Files

sorting

Metadata First

Recent First

Alphabetical

Related External Resources

Type: Browse Image

Thumbnail	http://oh.water.usgs.gov/GLRI/project_images/Corsi-673-726_fig2.jpg

Type: Web Link

Project Home Page	https://cida.usgs.gov/glri/#/Browse/all/57bb261be4b03fd6b7dd045c

Purpose

One of the major objectives of the proposed GLRI Action Plan is to “Identify emerging contaminants and assess impacts on the Great Lakes fish and wildlife”. There are long-term programs for monitoring of selected contaminants in fish, lake sediments, air, precipitation, and lake water, but an analogous program for defining contaminant contributions from U.S. Great Lakes tributaries does not exist on a spatial scale that can be used to evaluate impacts in tributaries of all five lakes. A large and growing list of contaminants can be detected in Great Lakes tributaries. However, with such a large number of potential contaminants, it can be difficult to determine which ones are most biologically relevant. A program that incorporates consistent contaminant surveillance in concert with evaluation of biological effects is needed to provide a biologically-relevant prioritization of contaminants in a systematic manner for multiple watersheds that will inform Great Lakes-wide needs. This collaborative, interagency research program aims to address those challenges by coupling USGS expertise in contaminant monitoring and surveillance with the expertise of partner agencies in bioeffects surveillance.

Project Extension

projectStatus	In Progress

Evaluation of contaminants and their potential biological effects in Great Lakes tributaries

Dates

Summary

Summary

Description of Work

Key Findings

Products

Child Items (1)

View children in Folder

Search children

Contacts

Attached Files

sorting

Metadata First

Recent First

Alphabetical

Purpose

Project Extension

Preview Image

Communities

Associated Items

Tags

Provenance

Additional Information

Alternate Titles

Item Actions

View Item as ...

Save Item as ...

View Item...

Dates

Summary

Summary

Description of Work

Key Findings

Products

Child Items (1) View children in Folder Search children

Contacts

Attached Files sorting Metadata First Recent First Alphabetical

Related External Resources

Purpose

Project Extension

Preview Image

Communities

Associated Items

Tags

Provenance

Additional Information

Alternate Titles

Item Actions

View Item as ...

Save Item as ...

View Item...

Child Items (1)

View children in Folder

Search children

Attached Files

sorting

Metadata First

Recent First

Alphabetical