Clean Water Program

Forum on Science to Support Management of Methylmercury in Restored Tidal Marshes

The Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay (RMP) recently published a technical report, authored by Dr. Rebecca Sutton of SFEI and her colleagues, that summarizes a series of RMP monitoring and research projects that have investigated the impacts of the flame retardants polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in San Francisco Bay.

An article coauthored by SFEI staff on polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations in caulking was recently published in Environment International. The study analyzed PCB concentrations in 25 caulk samples from the exterior of ten buildings in the San Francisco Bay Area. PCBs were detected in 88% of the caulk samples collected from the buildings and relatively high concentrations of PCBs were observed in concrete and masonry buildings built between 1950 and 1980.

RMP monitoring of mercury in small fish in the Bay has resulted in several journal publications, the latest just appearing in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. The article by Ben Greenfield and his coauthors (Predictors of Mercury Spatial Patterns in San Francisco Bay Forage Fish) presents the results of a probabilistic forage fish Hg survey with hypothesis testing in the Bay.

The first ever compilation of research focused on sediment transport in the San Francisco Bay coastal system was published in November as a special issue of the journal Marine Geology, edited by USGS scientists. The volume’s 21 papers investigate this complex and ever-changing system through the lenses of hydrology, chemistry, ecology and many other disciplines.

SFEI is pleased to announce a major new exhibition about the San Francisco Bay. Above and Below: Stories from Our Changing Bay opened at the Oakland Museum of California on August 30. This multidisciplinary show – drawing on art, history, and natural sciences – explores the stories of how humans have shaped and been shaped by the San Francisco Bay. SFEI partnered in the development of the show over the past two years, with Senior Scientist Robin Grossinger serving as guest co-curator.