Survey of Biological Effects of Toxicants Upon Puget Sound Biota. 1. Broad-Scale Toxicity Survey

摘要

A variety of chemical contaminants have been found in Puget Sound. High concentrations of some chemicals have been geographically linked with the occurrence of biological abnormalities in biota from the Sound. However, no direct evidence had been collected of adverse biologic effects resulting from exposure of Puget Sound biota to contaminants. Thus, the MESA (Marine EcoSystems Analysis) Puget Sound Project supported the study reported here to determine if adverse biologic effects occurred or not as a result of exposure of biota to contaminants found in the Sound. The approach that was selected involved performing a variety of tests with field-collected sediment and water samples from a large number of sites. The sites were selected to reflect the wide range in pollution situations known to exist in the Sound (from highly contaminated to moderately contaminated to pristine).