National Status and Trends, Benthic Surveillance Project DNA-Xenobiotic Adducts Data, 1991, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science

In order to determine the current status of and to detect any long-term trends in the environmental quality of U.S. nearshore waters, NOAA initiated the National Status and Trends program in 1984 with its National Benthic Surveillance Project.  The primary objective of the Benthic Surveillance Project was to quantify concentrations of a suite of organic and inorganic contaminants in the livers of fish and surficial sediments from selected sites in the coastal and estuarine waters of the United States. In addition, the levels of certain indicators of the biological effects of these contaminants were measured.  Incidences of visible lesions, including fin erosion, have been noted and histopathological examinations of various tissues have been carried out.  Originally histopathological examinations determined the prevalence of any identifiable disease conditions in samples of liver, kidney, and gill tissue.In addition, the Benthic Surveillance Project tested fish livers from 30 locations in 1991 to identify the concentrations of DNA xenobiotic adducts.  DNA xenobiotic adducts are a bioindicator of exposure to genotoxic compounds.  Measurement of biological markers such as DNA xenobiotic adducts have been used to improve the evaluation of contaminant exposure and responses in indigenous fish, and thus reinforce the connection between exposure to toxic chemicals and the observed injuries.

Tags: alabama, alaska, and restoration (simr), arlington channel, atlantic ocean, baltimore harbor, bioeffects/toxicity, boston harbor, brewerton channel, california, cape elizabeth, cape fear river, cape haze, charlotte harbor, chemical contaminants, cherry island range, chesapeake bay, chester river, choctawhatchee bay, clarks point, coastal monitoring, coastal ocean, connecticut, dana point harbor, deer island, delaware, delaware bay, deoxyribonucleic acid, dna, dna abnormalities, dna adducts, dna xenobiotic adducts, doc/noaa/nos/nccos, dog hammock, east coast, east reach, escatawpa river, field observation, florida, folger point, genotoxic exposure, geographic area, georgia, gulf of america, gulf of mexico, horseshoe shaol, hunters point, impacts, james river, johns bay, laguna heights, long island, long-term monitoring, louisiana, lower laguna madre, maine, maryland, massachusetts, military point, mississippi, mitigation, monitoring, mosquito point, national centers for coastal ocean science, national ocean service, nccos research data type, nccos research location, nccos research priority, nccos research topic, new bedford harbor, new jersey, new york, noaa, north, north atlantic ocean, north carolina, nsandt, ocean, oceans, oregon, outer harbor, outside, pascagoula river, patuxent river, pemaquid neck, pensacola bay, raritan bay, region, rhode island, richmond island, salem harbor, san antonio bay, san diego bay, san francisco bay, san pedro bay, sapelo sound, south carolina, southampton shoal, st. andrews bay, st. johns river, st. lucie river, stressors, stuart, texas, twenty eighth street, u.s. department of commerce, u.s. exclusive economic zone, u.s. states and territories, upper bay, virginia, washington, west coast, xenobiotic deoxyribonucleic acid adducts
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce