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Data Series 705

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National Water-Quality Assessment Program

Mercury Bioaccumulation Studies in the National Water-Quality Assessment Program—Biological Data From New York and South Carolina, 2005–2009

By Karen M. Beaulieu, Daniel T. Button, Barbara C. Scudder Eikenberry, Karen Riva-Murray, Lia C. Chasar, Paul M. Bradley, and Douglas A. Burns

Thumbnail of and link to report PDF (1.44 MB) Abstract

The U.S. Geological Survey National Water-Quality Assessment Program conducted a multidisciplinary study from 2005–09 to investigate the bioaccumulation of mercury in streams from two contrasting environmental settings. Study areas were located in the central Adirondack Mountains region of New York and the Inner Coastal Plain of South Carolina. Fish, macroinvertebrates, periphyton (attached algae and associated material), detritus, and terrestrial leaf litter were collected. Fish were analyzed for total mercury; macroinvertebrates, periphyton, and terrestrial leaf litter were analyzed for total mercury and methylmercury; and select samples of fish, macroinvertebrates, periphyton, detritus, and terrestrial leaf litter were analyzed for stable isotopes of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N). This report presents methodology and data on total mercury, methylmercury, stable isotopes, and other ecologically relevant measurements in biological tissues.

First posted August 10, 2012

For additional information contact:
Director
U.S. Geological Survey
Connecticut Water Science Center
101 Pitkin Street
East Hartford, CT 06108
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http://ct.water.usgs.gov

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Suggested citation:

Beaulieu, K.M., Button, D.T., Scudder Eikenberry, B.C., Riva-Murray, Karen, Chasar, L.C., Bradley, P.M., and Burns, D.A., 2012, Mercury bioaccumulation studies in the National Water-Quality Assessment Program—Biological data from New York and South Carolina, 2005–2009: U.S. Geological Survey Data Series 705, 13 p., at https://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/705/.


Contents

Abstract

Introduction

Site Selection

Data Collection

Analytical Methods

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

Summary

References Cited

Glossary

Appendixes 1–13