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Assessment of Fish Population Health in the Vicinity of the Kingston Fly Ash Release

Assessment of Fish Population Health in the Vicinity of the Kingston Fly Ash Release. Marshall Adams - Oak Ridge National Lab Allison Fortner – Arcadis Swee Teh - Univ. California- Davis Mark Greeley - ORNL. Presentation Outline. - Research objectives - Study Design

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Assessment of Fish Population Health in the Vicinity of the Kingston Fly Ash Release

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  1. Assessment of Fish Population Health in the Vicinity of the Kingston Fly Ash Release Marshall Adams - Oak Ridge National Lab Allison Fortner – Arcadis Swee Teh - Univ. California- Davis Mark Greeley - ORNL

  2. Presentation Outline - Research objectives - Study Design - Results and major findings - individual responses - integrated (holistic) responses - causal relationships - Relevance and application

  3. Objectives of Fish Health Studies Determine if fly ash exposure is causing short and/or long- term health effects on representative (sentinel) fish populations Evaluate potential causal relationships between bioaccumulation of metals in fish tissue and various indicators of fish health

  4. Study Design Sample Frequency spring and fall each year since spring 2009 Fish Species Sampled Spring - bluegill, largemouth bass, redear sunfish, and while crappie Fall - bluegill, largemouth bass, and channel catfish Sample Sites - 6-7 sample sites along downstream gradient of Emory and Clinch Rivers - includes 2 instream reference sites Health Indicators Measured - condition indices - bioenergetic indices - histopathology - organ dysfunction - carbohydrate-protein metabolism - electrolyte homeostasis - feeding and nutrition

  5. Fly Ash Spill Exposure of Fish to Metals Focus on sentinel species (different trophic levels and home ranges) - sunfish - bass - catfish - crappie Bioaccumulation Analysis of Fish Health Assess Effects and Causality 25 metals + Hg Physio- logical Repro- ductive Histo- path Bio- energetic Whole fish Muscle Liver Ovary

  6. ERM 8 (Ref) Sample Sites Little Emory (Ref) ERM 3 CRM 25.0 (ref) Ash spill CRM 8 ERM 0.9 CRM 7 CRM 1.5

  7. Sentinel species for bioaccumulation and fish health studies Types of Studies Bioaccumulation, fish health, and reconstruction analysis Bluegill - mid trophic level/omnivore - restricted home range Largemouth bass - upper trophic level/predator - intermediate home range Bioaccumulation, fish health, and reconstruction analysis Channel catfish - bottom feeder/omnivore - large home range Bioaccumulation and fish health Redear Sunfish Bioaccumulation, fish health, & trophic analysis (stable isotopes) - exclusive molluscavore - high site fidelity Gizzard Shad Bioaccumulation and role in food chain transfer of metals - feeds on detritus & periphyton - large home range

  8. Measures of Fish Health Physiological Spring and Fall Red = short-term and sensitive indicators Blue = longer term and more ecologically-relevant indicators Indicators of: - organ dysfunction - electrolyte homeostasis - carbohydrate metabolism - protein metabolism - hematology Histopathological Spring and Fall Bioenergetic Early warning, sensitivity, specificity - liver - gill - spleen - ovary (sp) Spring and Fall - condition factor - liver-somatic index - visceral-somatic index - lipid index - feeding & nutrition Reproductive Spring - Clutch size - Gonad condition - Egg quality - Oocyte atresia Ecological Relevance

  9. Individual and Integrated Health Responses

  10. (Indicator of liver damage) Ash spill Ash spill Ref Ref Ref Bluegill Ref Ref

  11. Ash spill Ash spill Ref Ref Bluegill Ref Ref

  12. (enzyme indicating liver damage) Ash spill Ash spill Ref Ref Bluegill (indicator of gill damage) Ref Ref

  13. Example of Gill Histopathology Normal gill showing secondary lamellae Mucus cell hyperplasia in gill Mild mucus cell hyperplasia Severe mucus cell hyperplasia

  14. Variables used In analysis Integrated health responses Condition factor Liver-somatic index Visceral-somatic index Feeding index Hematocrit Glucose Total protein Globulin Blood urea nitrogen Creatinine Liver enzyme Potassium Calcium Liver histopath Ovary histopath 23 14 8 Bluegill Spring 2009 18 Condition factor Liver-somatic index Visceral-somatic index Feeding index Hematocrit Glucose Total protein Globulin Blood urea nitrogen Creatinine Liver enzyme Sodium Calcium Liver histopath Ovary histopath 16 Bluegill Spring 2010 10 19 22

  15. Individual Responses Ash spill Ash spill Ref Ref Largemouth Bass Ref Ref

  16. Ash spill Ash spill Ref Ref Largemouth Bass (indicator of gill damage) Ref Ref

  17. (general stress indicator) Ash spill Ash spill Ref Ref Largemouth bass (indicator of protein metabolism) Ref Ref

  18. Integrated health responses (conical discriminant analysis) Variables use In analysis Condition factor Liver-somatic index Visceral-somatic index Feeding index Hematocrit Glucose Total protein Globulin Blood urea nitrogen Creatinine Liver enzyme Sodium Calcium Liver histopath Ovary histopath 25 10 32 20 Largemouth bass Spring 2009 Condition factor Liver-somatic index Visceral-somatic index Feeding index Hematocrit Glucose Total protein Globulin Blood urea nitrogen Creatinine Liver enzyme Sodium Calcium Liver histopath Ovary histopath 18 Largemouth bass Spring 2010 14 29 16

  19. Integrated health responses Bluegill-fall 2009 Bluegill-fall 2010

  20. Integrated health responses Largemouth bass Fall 2009 Largemouth bass Fall 2010 CRM 8

  21. Causal relationships between metal exposure and fish health

  22. Selenium (mg/gmDW) Ref Ref Ref Ref Bluegill Ref Ref

  23. Selenium (mg/gmDW) Ref Ref Bluegill (enzyme indicative of liver damage) Ref Ref

  24. Selenium in Fillets Selenium (mg/kgDW) Ref Ref Largemouth Bass Ref Ref

  25. Selenium in Fillets Ref Ref Largemouth Bass Condition Factor Ref Ref

  26. Relevance and application of fish health studies

  27. Establishing causal relationships among environmental variables Bird bioaccumulation Bird Health Metals in other biota - turtles - amphibians - raccoons Fish bioaccumulation Fish Health Macroinvert bioaccumulation Metals in water and sediment Possible direct cause & effect relationship Possible spatial correlations (indirect causality)

  28. Summary - As demonstrated by individual bioindicators and the discriminant analysis procedure, the health of fish is generally poorer downstream of the fly ash spill than at reference areas - Even though the health of fish immediately below the ash spill appears to be compromised to some degree, effects appears to be localized to a small area and to resident species -From 2009 -2010, improvement in health status (recovery) seen in bluegill and bass at 2 of the 3 sites downstream of the ash spill - No significant health effects (i.e., damage or injury) have been observed in fish suggesting that: 1) metal exposure is not of sufficient magnitude or duration to elicit changes in biological responses, and/or 2) the rate of biological repair exceeds the rate of damage - Food chain studies in combination with the use of multiple bioindicators provide a weight-of-evidence approach for evaluating possible causal relationships between exposure to fly ash metals and biological responses

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