Derivation of site-specific selenium water quality criteria: A comparison of two methods and regulatory implications.

In 2016, the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) issued revised aquatic life water quality criteria for selenium (Se). The criteria ("elements") consisted of threshold concentrations applicable to fish tissue (three tissue types, though the egg and ovary tissue takes precedence over the whole-body and muscle tissue thresholds), and water column. The agency rationalized that measured concentrations of Se in fish tissue were more predictive of potential adverse reproductive effects than those measured in external media.

Selenium and mercury in freshwater fish muscle tissue and otoliths: a comparative analysis.

Evaluating potential ecological and human health risks of exposure to bioaccumulative trace elements is typically implemented using analysis of tissue samples. Increasingly, the microchemistry of fish calcified structures is used to elucidate the lifetime exposure to trace elements. In the present study, we measured total mercury (THg), methylmercury (MeHg), and selenium (Se) in muscle tissue and otolith samples from 12 species of fish collected at reference sites and locations influenced by power plant wastewater.

Bioavailability of mercury in power plant wastewater and ambient river samples: Evidence that the regulation of total mercury is not appropriate.

Mercury (Hg) is a neurotoxin that can cause debilitating effects to human and environmental receptors under high exposure conditions. For industrial and municipal point sources that discharge Hg, wastewater limitations on total Hg (THg) concentrations or loads are typical. While this regulatory practice provides simplicity for regulated industry and water resource agencies (i.

Mercury and other trace elements in Ohio River fish collected near coal-fired power plants: Interspecific patterns and consideration of consumption risks.

Many coal-fired electric generating facilities in the United States are discharging higher loads of Hg, Se, and other chemicals to receiving streams due to the installation of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) air pollution control units. There are regulatory concerns about the potential increased uptake of these bioaccumulative trace elements into food webs. We evaluated the concentrations of As, total Hg (THg), methylmercury (MeHg), and Se in Ohio River fish collected proximal to coal-fired power plants, of which 75% operate FGD systems.

Selenium, arsenic, and mercury in fish inhabiting a fly ash exposure gradient: interspecific bioaccumulation patterns and elemental associations.

Releases from coal ash impoundments can be a significant source of trace elements to the aquatic environment. In the present study, whole-body concentrations of As, Hg, and Se in various fish species inhabiting streams receiving a gradient of fly ash exposure are reported. High-exposure sites had elevated water concentrations of As, Mo, Se, and SO(4) .

Selenium and other trace metals in fish inhabiting a fly ash stream: implications for regulatory tissue thresholds.

Bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) and caddis flies (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae) were collected from a stream receiving fly ash discharge and nearby reference streams to determine tissue levels of selenium (Se) and other metals, and compare these levels to published "no effect" thresholds. Stingy Run samples contained elevated levels of several metals. Mean Se concentrations in bullhead minnow whole body, bluegill whole body, bluegill ovary, and testes tissues were 44.

Dissolved and total copper in a coal ash effluent and receiving stream: assessment of in situ biological effects.

An in situ chemical and biological study was conducted in the lower Muskingum River (southeast Ohio, U.S.A.