Health of Bullhead in an Urban Fishery After Remedial Dredging
Final Report - January 31, 2000

TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary Acknowledgements Introduction Project Description Methodology Collection and Chemical Analysis of Sediment Fish Collecting and Processing Necropsy and Histology Aging Chemical Analysis of Fish Sample Locations Results and Discussion PCB Concentrations in Sediment PCB Residues in Fish PAH Concentrations in Sediment PAH Concentrations in Fish Tumor (Neoplasm) Prevalence in Brown Bullhead Brown Bullhead Age Structure Cancer Prevalence-Age Interaction Needed Research Literature Cited List of Tables List of Figures	about pdf files
	Prepared for: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Great Lakes National Program Office Chicago Illinois Grant No. GL985635-01-0 Prepared by: Paul C. Baumann, Ph.D. United States Geological Survey  Field Research Station Ohio State University 2021 Coffey Road Columbus OH 43210
	DISCLAIMER  This document was produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Any reference to a trademark name or organization does not represent an endorsement by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). Additional information on this project is available from Marc Tuchman, Sediment Assessment and Remediation Team Leader, Great Lakes National Program Office, at (312) 353-1369.

 Executive Summary 

The Black River near its mouth at Lorain, Ohio has a history of contaminant loading, particularly PAH from a coking facility and associated steel complex several miles upstream.  Surveys in the early 1980s documented PAHs in sediment at  concentrations of hundreds of ppm for individual compounds.  The brown bullhead population during this period had a liver cancer prevalence of over 30% for mature fish (age 3 and older), and a total liver neoplasm frequency of 60%.  In 1982 steel industry production declined in the U. S., and in 1983 the coking complex was closed, eliminating the major point source for PAHs.  A consent decree obtained by the US EPA against US Steel in the early 1980s required dredging of the most contaminated stretch of river above and below the location of the coke plant outfall.  This dredging was accomplished in 1989 and 1990.  This study was initiated to reevaluate the contaminant levels in sediment and the health of the fish population.  Sediment samples were collected in the fall of 1997 and fish samples in the spring of 1998.  

Although one location with elevated PAHs was found on the survey, the Black River has improved greatly since the early 1980s.  This improvement has taken place largely because of two major events.  First the closure of the coking facility in 1983 eliminated the major point source for PAHs, and led quickly to declines in surface sediment PAH levels, fish PAH residues, and neoplasm frequencies in fish.  Secondly the remedial dredging in 1989-90, although exposing fish then present in the river to previously buried PAHs, significantly reduced the average levels of PAH exposure for fish during subsequent years.  This has resulted in a further reduction of PAH residues in bullhead, and a much lower prevalence of liver tumors.  Both PAH residues and liver tumors are still higher than would be expected at non-industrial locations.  However, not only are liver cancers and neoplasms at their lowest documented levels, but the percentage of fish with normal healthy livers has increased from 20% in the early 1980s to almost 70%.  Older age classes (age 5 and older), largely freed from cancer mortality, went from 5½% of the population in 1982 to 62% in 1998. PCBs do not appear to be of major concern in the Black River at this time. 

Acknowledgements 

I wish to thank Ms. Callie Bolattino and the captain and crew of the EPA's RV Mudpuppy for facilitating the collection of sediment cores.  I also thank Dr. Allen Burton of Wright State University for coordination and collection help, and Paul Anderson of the Ohio EPA for sediment collection and metals data interpretation.  

Literature Cited  

Baumann, P.C. 1992.  The use of tumors in wild populations of fish to assess ecosystem health.  Journal of Aquatic Ecosystem Health, 1:21-31.

Baumann, P.C., and J.C. Harshbarger.  1995.  Decline in liver neoplasms in wild brown bullhead catfish after coking plant closes and environmental PAHs plummet.  Environmental Health Perspectives.  103(2): 168-170. 

Baumann, P.C.,  J.C. Harshbarger, and K.J. Hartman.  1990. Relations of liver tumors to age structure of brown bullhead populations from two Lake Erie tributaries.  Science of the Total Environment.  94:71‑88.

Baumann, P.C., M.J. Mac, S.B. Smith, and J.C. Harshbarger.  1991.  Tumor frequencies in walleye (Stizostedion vitreum) and brown bullhead (Ictalurus nebulosus) and sediment contaminants in tributaries of the Laurentian Great Lakes.  Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 48(9): 1804-1810.

Baumann, P.C., I.R. Smith, and C.D. Metcalfe.  1996.  Linkages between chemical contaminants and tumors in benthic Great Lakes fishes.  Journal of  Great Lakes Research.  22(2):131-152.

Baumann, P.C. and J.C. Harshbarger.  1998.  Long term trends in liver neoplasm epizootics of brown bullhead in the Black River, Ohio.  Environmental Monitoring & Assessment.  53:213-223.

Baumann, P.C.,  W.D. Smith, and W.K. Parland.  1987.  Contaminants concentrations and tumor frequencies in brown bullhead from an industrialized river and a recreational lake.  Transactions of the American Fishery Society.  116:79‑86.

Baumann, P.C., W.D. Smith, and M. Ribick.  1982.  Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) residue and hepatic tumor incidence in two populations of brown bullhead (Ictalurus nebulosus).  In:  Polynuclear  Aromatic Hydrocarbons:  physical and biological chemistry.  Marcus Cook, Anthony J. Dennis, and Gerald Fisher, Eds. Battelle Press, Columbus, OH. PP. 93‑102.  

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