Concentrations of selenium in biota, sediments, and water at Cibola National Wildlife Refuge (original) (raw)
Related papers
U.S. Geological Survey circular, 1999
Introduction 1 Background 1 Purpose and scope 2 Acknowledgments 2 Sources of selenium 2 Study methods 5 Physical classification of areas 7 Geology 7 Climate 7 Hydrology 11 Classification of study areas by selenium concentrations 12 Water 12 Biota 12 Use of geographic information system to create maps 14 Geologic data layers 14 Climatologic data layers 15 Land-use data layers 16 Factors affecting selenium concentrations in water 16 Geology 16 Climate 18 Hydrology 18 Deformities in aquatic birds and selenium concentrations in bird eggs 20 Map identifying areas susceptible to selenium contamination 21 Assessing map reliability 21 Test areas 21 Correctness of analysis 25 Accuracy and precision of maps 27 Land use within susceptible areas 28 Discussion and summary 28 References cited 32
1997
A reconnaissance study was completed for the Riverton Reclamation Project (Riverton Project) in 1989 by Peterson et al. (1991) showed slightly elevated selenium concentrations in biota at several wetland sites. A follow-up investigation was initiated for the Department of Interior's National Irrigation Water Quality Program in 1994 to verify that selenium concentrations in biota were elevated above levels that cause adverse effects to aquatic migratory birds. Pondweed (Potamogeton vaginatus), aquatic invertebrates, bird eggs, and fish were collected from several wetlands managed by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and analyzed for selenium and other trace elements. Selenium concentrations were lower in biota in 1994 than in 1988. However, aquatic invertebrates from all sites sampled except Ocean Lake were above the 3 µg/g dry weight dietary level known to cause adverse effects in fish and aquatic birds. American coot (Fulica americana) and eared grebe (Podiceps nigricolis) eggs from North Pavilion Pond had mean selenium concentrations of 10.9 and 13.1 µg/g, respectively, and did not differ appreciably from levels found in coot and grebe eggs in 1988.
Applied Geochemistry, 1993
The major tributaries draining the Kendrick Reclamation Project (KRP) account for an average of 52% of the total Se load measured in the North Platte River downstream from Casper, Wyoming. The Casper Creek drainage basin contributed the largest Se load of the five tributary sites to the North Platte River. The 4-d average Se concentration in water samples from one site in the part of the North Platte River that receives irrigation return flows exceeded the 5/~g/l U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's aquatic life criterion five times during a 50-d monitoring period in 1989. In agreement with the water-quality data, muscle and liver tissue from rainbow trout collected from the same part of the North Platte River had Se concentrations exceeding levels known to cause reproductive failure and chronic Se poisoning. On the basis of Se:C1,180/160 and D/H ratios in water from Goose and Rasmus Lee Lakes (closed-basin systems), the large Se concentrations in those lakes were derived by natural evaporation of irrigation water without leaching of soluble forms of Se from soil or rocks. Water samples from Thirtythree Mile Reservoir and Illco Pond (flow-through systems) showed considerable enrichment in Se over evaporative concentration, presumably due to leaching and desorption of Se from soil and rock. The Sc:C1 ratios of irrigation drain water collected from the KRP indicate that leaching and desorption of soluble forms of Se from soils and rocks are the dominant processes in drain water. Results ofa Wilcoxon matched-pairs test for 43 paired drain-water samples collected during June and August 1988, indicated there is a statistically larger concentration of Se (0.01 significance level) during the June sampling period. The larger concentrations of Se and other chemical constitutents during the early part of the irrigation season probably were due to dissolution of seleniferous salts that have accumulated in soils within the KRP since the last irrigation season. The large Se concentrations in water samples from wetland sites in the KRP were reflected in the aquatic-bird food chain. Most waterfowl and shorebirds nesting at the KRP showed Se concentrations in livers and eggs greater than levels suspected of causing adverse reproductive effects.
Selenium and other elements in freshwater fishes from the irrigated San Joaquin valley, California
Science of The Total Environment, 1992
Arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), mercury (Hg), and selenium (Se) were measured in composite whole-body samples of five fishes --bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus), common carp (Cyprinus carpio), mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis), largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), and Sacramento blackfish (Orthodon mierolepidotus) -from the San Joaquin River system to determine if concentrations were elevated from exposure to agricultural subsurface (tile) drainage. Except for Cr, the concentrations of these elements in fishes from one or more sites were elevated; however, only Se approached concentrations that may adversely affect survival, growth, or reproduction in warm water fishes. Moreover, only Se among the four measured elements exhibited a geographic (spatial) pattern that coincided with known inflows of tile drainage to the San Joaquin River and its tributaries. Historical data from the Grassland Water District (Grasslands; a region exposed to concentrated tile drainage) suggested that concentrations of Se in fishes were at maximum during or shortly after 1984 and have been slightly lower since then. The recent decline of Se concentrations in fishes from the Grasslands could be temporary if additional acreages of irrigated lands in this portion of the San Joaquin Valley must be tile-drained to protect agricultural crops from rising groundwater tables
Conducting site-specific assessments of selenium bioaccumulation in aquatic systems
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 2011
Selenium (Se) is a chemical of concern at many locations across North America and elsewhere, and site-specific conditions are important when evaluating its bioaccumulation and effects in aquatic ecosystems. Most regulatory criteria and guidelines are based on waterborne Se concentrations. In contrast, the draft water quality chronic criterion of the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) is based on Se concentrations in whole-body fish, and current information suggests the agency will issue a new draft criterion based in part on fish egg and/or ovary Se concentrations. However, implementation guidance is not available from the agency for either of these tissue-based criteria. Therefore, we describe a phased approach for field and laboratory assessments of Se bioaccumulation in fish and aquatic-dependent birds that can be applied in different environmental settings with the goal of developing and interpreting a tissue-based Se value. We recommend here the use of decision trees, conceptual models, and data quality objectives toward defining what should be done during the assessment, plus sampling and monitoring procedures for the assessment. First, available tissue or waterborne Se concentrations should be compared to tissue residue guidelines or adopted water quality criteria and guidelines. When needed, reproductive toxicity testing and assessment of fish populations should also be conducted in the area of interest. In addition, extensive data on the effects of Se on fish and bird species have been developed, and describing the associations between fish or bird egg tissue, aqueous Se, and potential effects is important for sites where Se may be a concern. Selenium bioaccumulation and toxicity also are of concern for amphibians and oviparous reptiles, but interpretive information is very limited for those species. Recent science indicates that effects are more strongly related to tissue concentrations of Se (especially in the eggs or ovaries of oviparous vertebrates) than to waterborne concentrations. Overall, we conclude that the approach for site-specific assessment must be flexible enough to allow what is appropriate for the situation. Furthermore, risk management and remediation decisions should be based on combined biology and chemistry data, using multiple lines of evidence in the assessment. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2011;7:314-324. ß 2011 SETAC
1998
Maughan for accepting me as a graduate student and making me apart of the Arizona Cooperative Research Unit, kindling within me the flames of self-confidence, and showing me the tremendous value of compassion. Additionally, I am grateful to the people in the Fish and Wildlife Service that helped me initiate the graduate school process and provided the vehicle to make it so-Roger Abeyta, Joseph P. Mazzoni, Conrad A. Fjetland and Lynn Starnes. I am thankful for my committee's guidance, support, understanding, comments and suggestions throughout the project. I am most thankful for their helping me grow as a person and a scientist. I thank fellow graduate and undergraduate students and the Minority Training Program for their assistance in this project. Some of these people include:
Ecological Assessment of Selenium in the Aquatic Environment
Ecological Assessment of Selenium in the Aquatic Environment, 2010
To date there has been no clear guidance for assessing the potential environmental effects and impacts of selenium (Se) contamination; such activities have been highly site-specific. A Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Pellston Workshop held February 22-28, 2009, which involved a multidisciplinary and international group of scientists, managers and policymakers, established the present state of the science and provided globally-applicable guidance for assessing and managing the environmental effects of Se. Key information from the SETAC Pellston includes: traditional methods for predicting toxicity on the basis of exposure to dissolved concentrations do not work for Se; enrichment functions can be used to predict Se bioaccumulation at the base of food webs; uptake by individual species and in steps of the food web can be described by a trophic transfer function; Se partitioning is unique among metal and metalloid contaminants and requires site-specific risk assessments to a much greater extent than most other contaminants.