Ed Johnson1, Annie Jacob2 ,Kimani Kimbrough1, Erik Davenport1and Michael Edwards1 1National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Maryland

2Consolidated Safety Services-Dynamac, Virginia

Introduction Under the President’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

launched in 2009, NCCOS Mussel Watch Program (MWP)

expanded and enhanced its monitoring efforts by adding

numerous sites within highly impacted areas and conducting

targeted monitoring and contamination assessments using

newer techniques and approaches in partnership with

universities and other federal agencies.

Enhanced efforts include the:

Deployment of caged mussels where extant mussel beds

are not found.

Incorporation of effects- based monitoring (cellular

biomarkers, genomics and metabolomics) to link

contaminant exposure to bioeffects.

Deployment of additional matrices such as passive

samplers and Hester Dendy along with caged mussels.

Assessment of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs).

Results

Methods Dreissenid mussels are harvested from the harbor

breakwater and deployed in cages at pre-determined

stations in Areas of Concern (AOCs) of interest.

Mussels are collected after 5 -10 weeks of deployment and

analyzed for relevant contaminants.

Conclusions and Next Steps Caged dreissenid mussels are a robust tool in identifying localized areas of contamination within an AOC.

Offshore and nearshore contaminant measurements bring perspective to localized contamination assessments in river

and harbor sites.

Effects-based monitoring and surveillance approaches will be used to support traditional contaminant monitoring.

Decades of MWP monitoring data will be modeled to determine baseline concentrations.

NCCOS Great Lakes Mussel Watch: Contamination Monitoring and Assessment for

Restoration of the Great Lakes

Figure 1. Basin-wide map of offshore (),nearshore (), river-harbor()

sites. Callout boxes show locations where intensive assessments were

conducted to support monitoring and modeling efforts.

Figure 2. Caged mussels are deployed in minnow traps and placed on

cinder blocks or a mooring that suspends them approximately 12 inches

off the sediment. Mussels have been deployed with Hester-Dendy,

Polyethylene Devices (PEDs), and Polar Organic Chemical Integrative

Samplers (POCIS).

Figure 3. Box and whisker plots of contaminant concentrations in mussel tissue

from MWP river-harbor sites in the Great Lakes obtained from 2009-2015. The

contaminant concentrations were grouped into Low, Medium and High using k-

means cluster analysis. Green line indicates the basin-wide mean concentration

in mussels from offshore and nearshore sites.

Figure 5. Summary of chemical concentrations in mussels (PCB, PAH and PBDE concentrations are in ng/g dry

wt and MeHg concentrations are in ug/g dry wt) located in the Niagara River and seven tributaries, relative to the

basin-wide cluster analysis (Fig. 3) obtained in 2014. Red triangles relate to the locations shown in inset maps.

Figure 6. Proportion of measured CEC detected in

mussels located in the Niagara River and seven of

its tributaries.

1,2,3,7,8,9-HXCDF Diazepam Oxolinic Acid

1,7-Dimethylxanthine Digoxigenin Oxycodone

4-Epianhydrochlortetracycline

[EACTC] Digoxin Oxytetracycline [OTC]

4-Epianhydrotetracycline [EATC] Doxorubicin Paroxetine

4-Epichlortetracycline [ECTC] Doxycycline Penicillin G

4-Epioxytetracycline [EOTC] Drospirenone Penicillin V

4-Epitetracycline [ETC] Enalapril Prednisolone

Acetaminophen Flumequine Prednisone

Alprazolam Fluocinonide Promethazine

Amlodipine Fluticasone propionate Propoxyphene

Amphetamine Furosemide Ranitidine

Amsacrine Glipizide Rosuvastatin

Anhydrochlortetracycline [ACTC] Glyburide Roxithromycin

Anhydrotetracycline [ATC] Hydrochlorothiazide Sarafloxacin

Atorvastatin Hydrocodone Simvastatin

Azathioprine Hydrocortisone Sulfachloropyridazine

Benzoylecgonine Ibuprofen Sulfadiazine

Benztropine Iopamidol Sulfadimethoxine

beta-HBCDD Isochlortetracycline

[ICTC] Sulfamerazine

Betamethasone Lincomycin Sulfamethazine

Bisphenol A Lomefloxacin Sulfamethizole

Caffeine Medroxyprogesterone

Acetate Sulfamethoxazole

Carbadox Melphalan Sulfanilamide

Carbamazepine Meprobamate Sulfathiazole

Cefotaxime Metformin Tamoxifen

Chlortetracycline [CTC] Methylprednisolone Teniposide

Cimetidine Metoprolol Tetracycline [TC]

Clarithromycin Metronidazole Theophylline

Clinafloxacin Minocycline Thiabendazole

Clonidine Moxifloxacin Trenbolone

Cloxacillin Naproxen Trenbolone acetate

Codeine Norfloxacin Triclosan

Colchicine Norfluoxetine Tylosin

Cotinine Norgestimate Valsartan

Cyclophosphamide Ofloxacin Warfarin

Daunorubicin Ormetoprim Zidovudine

Dehydronifedipine Oxacillin

Demeclocycline Oxazepam

Diatrizoic acid

Figure 7. Proportion of measured CECs present in mussels

(2014) located in the Niagara River and seven tributaries.

Table 1. List of CECs not detected in mussels located in Niagara

River and seven of its tributaries.

PAH PCB PBDE MeHg

Figure 4. For each contaminant, the associated pie chart summarizes the site-type; offshore (dark green),

nearshore (light green), and river-harbor (where 3 shades of blue relate to clustered concentrations in Fig 3).

PA

H C

on

cen

trati

on

(n

g/g

dry

wt)

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

PC

B C

on

ce

ntr

ati

on

(n

g/g

dry

wt)

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

Harbor/River Sites

Low Medium High

PB

DE

Co

nc

en

tra

tio

n

(n

g/g

dry

wt)

0

50

100

150

200

250

Harbor/River Sites

Low Medium High

Me

Hg

Co

nc

en

tra

tio

n

(u

g/g

dry

wt)

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

Proportion present

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HPCDD2,3,7,8-TCDF

4-NPDEET

NP1EONP2EOOCDD

1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HPCDF2,3,7,8-TCDD

SertralineAmitriptyline

Etoposide2,3,4,7,8-PECDF

OCDFDiphenhydramine

1,2,3,7,8,9-HXCDDTriclocarban

1,2,3,4,7,8-HXCDF1,2,3,6,7,8-HXCDD

1,2,3,7,8-PECDDCitalopram

10-hydroxy-amitriptylineVerapamil

1,2,3,6,7,8-HXCDF1,2,3,7,8-PECDF

2,3,4,6,7,8-HXCDF1,2,3,4,7,8,9-HPCDF

1,2,3,4,7,8-HXCDDClotrimazole

Diltiazemalpha-HBCDD

AzithromycinFluoxetine

CocaineEnrofloxacinMiconazolePropranololVenlafaxine

DesmethyldiltiazemTriamterene

Trimethoprim2-Hydroxy-ibuprofen

4n-OPBusulfan

Erythromycin-H2Ogamma-HBCDD

NorverapamilVirginiamycin M1

AlbuterolAtenolol

CiprofloxacinGemfibrozil