MERCURY CONTAMINANTS IN COMMERICAL AND RECREATIONAL FINFISH OF NARRAGANSETT BAY,

这个子项目是许多研究子项目中利用 资源由NIH/NCRR资助的中心拨款提供。子项目和 调查员(PI)可能从NIH的另一个来源获得了主要资金， 并因此可以在其他清晰的条目中表示。列出的机构是 该中心不一定是调查人员的机构。 汞(Hg)是一种有毒的环境污染物，影响人类健康，接触主要通过饮食摄入受污染的鱼类。为了将暴露降至最低，州政府机构发布了针对特定物种、但不特定于地理的海鱼的消费建议。后者假定沿海鱼类污染反映的是大范围的终生迁移模式，而不是局部汞污染。然而，如果考虑到致因因素，例如来自本地和远程来源的汞污染的空间差异、不同鱼种之间及其不同生命阶段的饮食差异以及在感兴趣的水体中的停留时间，当地渔业中的汞污染物可能是可预测的。因此，需要重点研究海洋生态和环境化学，以支持开发描述生物可利用汞与当地鱼类污染之间关系的模型。这项调查将集中在RI的纳拉甘西特湾，那里的当地渔业是该州居民重要的饮食和商业资源。国际土地利用/分水岭特征和潜在的汞点源将与特定地点采集的沉积物和某些海洋鱼类和无脊椎动物物种的汞测量值相关联。这些数据将在地理信息系统的框架内使用，以创建预测模型，并分析RI土地利用与流域特征、汞污染和海洋食物网污染之间的空间关系。将对这些经验模型进行评估和改进，以包括由环境汞水平和食物网分析确定的导致汞在海鱼中生物积累的空间和机制因素。最后，将根据垂钓者和当地商业鱼类市场提供的本地消费鱼类的汞测量水平，对预测具有商业和娱乐重要性的鱼类的汞水平的模型进行测试。这项研究的结果将提高对海洋鱼类消费对人类健康的风险评估的准确性。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Mercury (Hg) is a toxic environmental contaminant affecting human health, and exposure occurs mainly via dietary uptake of contaminated fish. To minimize exposure, state agencies issue advisories for the consumption of marine fish that are species-specific, but not geographically-specific. The latter assumes that coastal fish contamination reflects large scale lifetime movement patterns rather than local Hg contamination. However, Hg contaminants in local 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 across their various life stages, and residence time within water bodies of interest. Thus, research focusing on marine ecology and environmental chemistry is needed to support the development of models describing relationships between bioavailable Hg and local fish contamination. 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. Finally, models predicting Hg levels in commercially and recreationally important finfish will be tested against measured Hg levels in locally-consumed fish, provided by anglers and local commercial fish markets. The outcome of this research will be improved accuracy in the assessment of the risks to human health of marine fish consumption.