Deriving Human Health and Aquatic Life Water Quality Criteria in the United States for Bioaccumulative Substances: A Historical Review and Future Perspective.

Methods used to derive water quality regulations for persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic substances (PBTs) in the United States have evolved substantially over the past 50 yr, leveraging current understandings and assumptions about the nature and magnitude of partitioning and accumulation of substances in water, sediments, and organisms. In the United States and across the world, environmental regulations continue to evolve into more refined water quality criteria protective of aquatic life and human health. The present review provides historical context on the establishment of aquatic life and human health water quality criteria in the United States by compiling information from regulatory agencies and peer-reviewed literature on methods used to characterize and quantify bioaccumulation of substances in aquatic organisms and humans.

Quantifying Variability in Four U.S. Streams Using a Long-Term Dataset: Patterns in Biotic Endpoints.

Effective water resources assessment and management requires quantitative information on the variability of ambient and biological conditions in aquatic communities. Although it is understood that natural systems are variable, robust estimates of long-term variation in community-based structure and function metrics are rare in U.S.

Patterns of macroinvertebrate assemblages in a long-term watershed-scale study to address the effects of pulp and paper mill discharges in four US receiving streams.

Changes in macroinvertebrate communities exposed to pulp and paper mill effluent (PPME) have been seen in mesocosm and short-term field studies. However, long-term patterns of macroinvertebrates in PPME receiving streams have not been examined. We conducted a study of 4 PPME receiving streams (Codorus Creek, PA; the Leaf River, MS; and the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, OR) over 9 y to assess temporal patterns in macroinvertebrate community structure and metrics related to PPME discharge.

Patterns of fish community structure in a long-term watershed-scale study to address the aquatic ecosystem effects of pulp and paper mill discharges in four US receiving streams.

Physiological changes have been seen in individual fish exposed to pulp and paper mill effluent (PPME), but it is unclear whether community-level changes are seen in fish in PPME receiving waters. We conducted a study of 4 PPME receiving streams (Codorus Creek, PA, USA), the Leaf River (Forrest and Perry Counties, MS, USA), and the McKenzie and Willamette rivers (Lane County, OR, USA) over 9 y to assess temporal patterns in the type and relative abundance of fish species and measures of community structure and function related to PPME discharge. We used boat and backpack electrofishing to sample large- and small-bodied fish from the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, boat electrofishing to sample large-bodied fish from the Leaf River, and backpack electrofishing to sample the entire fish community from Codorus Creek.

A long-term, multitrophic level study to assess pulp and paper mill effluent effects on aquatic communities in four US receiving waters: characteristics of the study streams, sample sites, mills, and mill effluents.

Watershed characteristics, study streams, sample sites, mills, and mill effluents are provided for 4 streams included in a long-term study to assess potential effects of pulp and paper mill effluents on US receiving waters. The study streams are Codorus Creek (Pennsylvania, USA), Leaf River (Mississippi, USA) and McKenzie and Willamette rivers (Oregon, USA) and were chosen to represent a blend of mill process types, effluent concentrations, and coldwater/warmwater stream systems. The described effluent quality, water quality, and habitat data sets encompass the initial 7 to 8 y of a study anticipated to continue >10 y and provide a backdrop to a series of articles describing periphyton, macroinvertebrate, and fish community properties in these same streams.