Date: 
December 17, 2012 - 12:00am

Pollutants that accumulate in fish and other aquatic life (or “bioaccumulate”) are having detrimental impacts on water bodies throughout California. Monitoring information will provide an essential foundation for cleanup plans and exposure reduction plans to remedy this problem. In addition, effective communication of this information to the public is imperative to enable fish consumers to reduce their exposure to pollutants.

The California Water Quality Monitoring Council has established a committee, the Bioaccumulation Oversight Group (BOG), that is charged with coordinating monitoring, assessment, and communication of information relating to bioaccumulation in California.

As a first step in taking on this role, the BOG held a meeting on December 17 where a series of speakers provided an overview of various aspects of the bioaccumulation problem in California water bodies. The presentations summarized the latest information on statewide surveys of sport fish, accumulation in humans, risks to wildlife, contaminants of emerging concern, the new statewide mercury program, studies of mercury in reservoirs, consumption advisories, and efforts to communicate consumption advice to fish consumers. This meeting set the stage for subsequent BOG meetings aimed at coordinating work in all of these areas.

Download a PDF of the Agenda.

PRESENTATIONS

Morning

  • Jay Davis (SFEI) - Welcome and Introduction (Presentation PDF)
  • Jay Davis (SFEI) - Contaminants in California Sport Fish (Presentation PDF)
  • Sandy McNeel and Gail Krowech (CDPH and OEHHA) - Contaminants in Californians: The California Environmental Contaminant Biomonitoring Program (Presentation PDF)
  • Josh Ackerman (USGS) - Mercury in California Wildlife (Presentation PDF)
  • Patrick Morris (USEPA Region 9) - The Statewide Mercury Program (Presentation PDF)
  • Mike Horvath (SFPUC) - Mercury in Hetch Hetchy Reservoir (Presentation PDF)
  • Mark Stephenson (MLML) - Factors Driving Methylmercury Contamination in California Reservoirs (Presentation PDF)

Afternoon

  • Charles Alpers (USGS) - Mercury Studies in the Sierra Nevada (Presentation PDF)
  • Carrie Monahan and Izzy Martin (USEPA Region 9) - Mercury Contamination and Exposure Reduction in the Sierra Nevada (Presentation PDF)
  • Dominic Gregorio (SWRCB) - Bioaccumulation of Contaminants of Emerging Concern on the California Coast (Presentation PDF)
  • Meg Sedlak (SFEI) - Bioaccumulation of Contaminants of Emerging Concern in San Francisco Bay (Presentation PDF)
  • Robert Brodberg (CA OEHHA) - Safe Eating Guidelines in California (Presentation PDF)
  • Alyce Ujihara (CDPH) - Exposure Reduction in San Francisco Bay (Presentation PDF)
Programs and Focus Areas: 
Clean Water Program