FATE OF MERCURY CONTAMINANTS IN NARRAGANSETT BAY, RHODE ISLAND

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. Mercury (Hg) is a toxic environmental contaminant affecting human health, and exposure occurs mainly through dietary uptake of contaminated fish. To minimize Hg exposure, public health officials issue consumption advisories to inform citizens of the possible health risks associated with eating fish. However, national consumption advisories for marine fish are possibly ineffective because they do not account for small-scale spatial variations in Hg contamination. Hg contaminants in local coastal fisheries may be predictable if causative factors are taken into account, e.g., spatial variation in Hg pollution from locally- and distantly-derived sources, dietary differences among fish species, and residence time within water bodies of interest. This investigation will focus on Narragansett Bay, RI, where local fisheries are important dietary and commercial resources for denizens of the state. RI land use/watershed characteristics and potential point sources of Hg will be correlated with measured values of Hg from site-specific collections of sediment and certain marine fish and invertebrate species. These data will be used within the framework of a geographic information system to create predictive models and analyze spatial relationships between RI land use and watershed characteristics, Hg pollution, and contamination in the marine food web. These empirical models will be evaluated and refined to include spatial and mechanistic factors underlying Hg bioaccumulation in marine fish, as determined by environmental Hg levels and food web analyses. Such models provide the necessary link between environmental regulations and their efficacy in minimizing dietary fish Hg contamination in humans.