Fish Bioaccumulation Studies Associated with the Kingston Fly Ash Release

Marshall Adams - Oak Ridge National LabTyler Baker - TVAAllison Fortner - ArcadisTerry Matthews and Mary McCracken - ORNL

Presentation Outline

- Research objectives

- Study Design

- Results and major findings - causal relationships

- Relevance to overall fly ash project - integration with other studies

Objectives of Bioaccumulation Studies

Determine if fly ash exposure is causing short and/or long-

term health effects on representative (sentinel) fish populations (tomorrows presentation)

Evaluate potential causal relationships between exposure to fly ash-associated metals and bioaccumulation in representative fish species

Assess spatial and temporal patterns of metal bioaccumulation in sentinel fish species

Study Design

Fish Species SampledSpring - bluegill, largemouth bass, redear sunfish, and while crappie Fall - bluegill, largemouth bass, and channel catfish

Sample Frequency spring and fall each year since spring 2009

Metals Analyzed- ICP suite of 25 metals including selenium, arsenic, etc.- metals measured in fillets (muscle) from all fish, liver and ovaries (spring), whole body (shad)

Special Studies- whole body composite gizzard shad - reconstruction analysis on bluegill and LMB- trophic analysis on redear using stable isotopes

Sample Sites- 6-7 sample sites along downstream gradient of Emory and Clinch Rivers- includes 2 instream reference sites

Bioaccumulation

25 metals + Hg

Fly Ash Spill

Exposure of Fish to Metals

Wholefish

Muscle Liver Ovary

Focus on sentinel species

- sunfish- bass

- catfish- crappie

Analysis of Fish Health

Assess Effects and Causality

(different trophic levels and home ranges)

Physio-logical

Repro-ductive

Histo-path

Bio-energetic

CRM 1.5

CR

M 7

ERM 8 (Ref)

CRM 8ERM 0.9

ERM 3

Little Emory (Ref)

CRM 25.0 (ref)Ashspill

Sentinel species for bioaccumulation and fish health studies

Bluegill- mid trophic level/omnivore- restricted home range

Largemouth bass- upper trophic level/predator- intermediate home range

Channel catfish- bottom feeder/omnivore- large home range

Gizzard Shad

Redear Sunfish

Types of StudiesBioaccumulation,fish health, and reconstruction analysis

Bioaccumulationand fish health

Bioaccumulation,fish health, and reconstruction analysis

Bioaccumulation, fishhealth, & trophic analysis(stable isotopes)

Bioaccumulation androle in food chain transfer of metals

- exclusive molluscavore- high site fidelity

- feeds on detritus & periphyton - large home range

Selenium in Muscle Tissue, Fall 2010

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

Bluegill Sunfish Channel Catfish Largemouth Bass

Se m

g/kg

DW

ERM8.0 LERM2.0 ERM3.0 ERM0.9 CRM1.5 CRM8.0

Spatial Pattern

Ashspill Ash

spill

Refs

RefsRefs

Refs

Downstream

Arsenic in Muscle Tissue, Fall 2010

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6

Bluegill Sunfish Channel Catfish Largemouth Bass

As

mg/

kg D

W

ERM8.0 LERM2.0 ERM3.0 ERM0.9 CRM1.5 CRM8.0

Ash spill

Ash spill

Spatial Pattern

References below detection

Refs

Refs

Reference Sites

EPA tier 1 action level for assessing toxicity of selenium on fish and birds

Ash spill

Temporal Pattern Selenium in Bluegill Muscle

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

8.00

ERM8.0 LERM2.0 ERM4.5 ERM3.0 ERM0.9 CRM1.5 CRM8.0 CRM25.0

Se m

g/kg

DW

Spring 2009

Fall 2009

Spring 2010

Fall 2010

EPA tier 1 action level for assessing toxicity of selenium on fish and birds

References

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

8.00

9.00

10.00

11.00

12.00

ERM8.0 LEM2.0 ERM3.0 ERM0.9 CRM1.5 CRM8.0

Se m

g/kg

dry

wt

Bluegil l

Redear

LM Bass

Wh Crappie

Selenium in Ovarian Tissue

EPA tier 2 action level for assessing toxicity of selenium on fish and birds

References

Selenium in Largemouth Bass

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

3.50

4.00

4.50

ERM8.0 LERM2.0 ERM4.5 ERM3.0 ERM0.9 CRM1.5 CRM8.0 CRM25.0

Se m

g/kg

DW

Spring 2009

Fall 2009

Spring 2010

Fall 2010

References

Ash Spill

Temporal Pattern

Temporal Pattern

Selenium in whole body gizzard shad

References

Temporal Pattern

References

1.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

3.50

4.00

4.50

ERM8.0 LERM2.0 ERM4.5 ERM3.0 ERM0.9 CRM1.5 CRM8.0 CRM25.0

Se m

g/kg

DW

Spring 2009

Fall 2009

Spring 2010

Fall 2010

Selenium in Largemouth Bass (muscle)

Selenium in whole body Gizzard Shad

Range of Sein shad

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

ERM 8 LERM 2 ERM 3 ERM 0.9 CRM 1.5 CRM 8

Composite Bioaccumulation Index (Fillets—integrates 4 species and 4 seasons)

Arsenic

Selenium

Co

mp

osi

te B

ioac

cum

ula

tio

n I

nd

ex

DOE Legacy

Sample Site

Positive control

Ash spill

References

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

ERM 8 LERM 2 ERM 3 ERM 0.9 CRM 1.5 CRM 8

Composite Bioaccumulation Index (Liver– integrates 3 species and 2 seasons)

Arsenic

Selenium

Co

mp

osi

te B

ioac

cum

ula

tio

n I

nd

ex

DOE LegacyPositive control

Sample Site

Ash spill

References

Y = 2.1241Ln(x) + 0.0252

R2 = 0.8294Y = 0.6x + 0.4898

R² = 0.8089

0.00

0.50

1.001.50

2.00

2.50

3.00

3.504.00

4.50

5.00

0 2 4 6 8

Fillet mg/kg Se

Who

le b

ody

mg/

kg S

e

Combined

Log. (Combined)

Linear (Combined)

Relationship between selenium in fillet and whole bodyof bluegill based on reconstruction analysis

Relevance and Application

Ash

Periphyton

Adult mayflies

emergence

Piscivorous birds

Metals, detritus,periphyton

Treeswallow

GB heron Osprey

Mayflynymph

Sunfish

LM bass Shad

Racoon

Mussel

Integrated Aquatic Food Chain Studies

Frogs

Se+4Se-2

To periphyton

Establishing causal relationships among environmental variables

Possible direct cause & effect relationship

Possible spatial correlations (indirect causality)

Birdbioaccumulation

BirdHealth

Fishbioaccumulation

FishHealth

Macroinvertbioaccumulation

Metals in other biota- turtles- amphibians- raccoons

Metals in waterand sediment

Summary and Conclusions

- Food chain studies provide a weight-of-evidence approach for evaluating possible causal relationships between exposure to fly ash metals and effects on ecological resources

- For all fish species studied, there is spatial gradient in bioaccumulation of selenium and arsenic with highest levels downstream of the ash spill

- In most cases, levels of selenium in fish collected below the ash spill are not high enough to trigger the EPA tiered monitoring scheme for assessing toxicity of selenium in fish

- Spatial and temporal patterns in bioaccumulation suggest there are causal relationships between exposure to fly ash-associated metals and levels of metals in fish