Potential health effects of contaminant mixtures from point and nonpoint sources on fish and frogs in the New Jersey Pinelands

US Geological Survey

Potential health effects of contaminant mixtures from point and nonpoint sources on fish and frogs in the New Jersey Pinelands

Date: Wednesday, June 7

Aquatic ecosystems convey complex contaminant mixtures from anthropogenic pollution on a global scale. Point (e.g., municipal wastewater) and nonpoint sources (e.g., stormwater runoff) are both drivers of contaminant mixtures in aquatic habitats. The objectives of this study were to identify the contaminant mixtures present in surface waters impacted by both point and nonpoint sources, to determine if aquatic biota (amphibian and fish) health effects (testicular oocytes and parasites) occurred at these sites, and to understand if differences in biological and chemical measures existed between point (on-stream) and nonpoint sources (off-stream). To accomplish this, water chemistry, fishes, and frogs were collected from 21 sites in the New Jersey Pinelands, United States. Off-stream sites consisted of 3 reference and 10 degraded wetlands. On-stream sites consisted of two reference lakes and six degraded streams/lakes (four sites above and two sites below wastewater outfalls). Surface water was collected four times at each site and analyzed for 133 organic and inorganic contaminants. One native and five non-native fish species were collected from streams/lakes and native green frogs from wetlands (ponds and stormwater basins). Limited differences in contaminant concentrations were observed in reference and degraded wetlands but for streams/lakes, results indicated that landscape alteration, (upland agricultural and developed land) was the primary driver of contaminant concentrations rather than municipal wastewater. Incidence of estrogenic endocrine disruption (intersex) was species dependent with the highest prevalence observed in largemouth bass and black crappie and the lowest prevalence observed in green frogs and tessellated darters. Parasite prevalence was site and species dependent. Prevalence of eye parasites increased with increasing concentrations of industrial, mycotoxin, and cumulative inorganic contaminants. These findings are critical to support the conservation, protection, and management of a wide range of aquatic species in the Pinelands and elsewhere as habitat loss, alteration, and fragmentation increase with increasing development.

Kelly Smalling is a Research Hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, New Jersey Water Science Center. She is Co-lead, of the USGS Environmental Health Program, Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Integrated Science Team and the national contaminants lead of the USGS Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative. Kelly’s research is focused on the actual versus perceived health risks of contaminant mixtures to human health and the environment (including fish and wildlife).

This talk is eligible for 1 AICP CM self-reporting credit

  This meeting is a virtual meeting, link to be provided to registrants prior to the event.