Trace Elements in Bed Sediments and Biota from Streams in the Santee River Basin and Coastal Drainages, North and South Carolina, 1995-97

Abstract

Bed-sediment and tissue samples were collected and analyzed for the presence of trace elements from 25 sites in the Santee River Basin and coastal drainages study area during 1995-97 as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program, Sediment trace-element priority-pollutant concentrations were compared among streams draining water-sheds with different land-use settings. Bed sediments from streams draining urban settings contained significantly higher concentrations of lead than bed sediments from streams draining predominantly forested settings, which were designated as reference settings. None of the bed-sediment concentrations of trace-element priority pollutants exceeded levels considered harmful to aquatic life. Tissue samples of Asiatic clams (Corbicula fluminea) from 18 sites in the Santee River Basin and coastal drainages study area were analyzed for the presence of selected trace-element priority pollutants. Asiatic clams from streams with watersheds dominated by urban land-use settings had significantly higher tissue concentrations of copper than those from streams in predominantly forested settings. Mercury is of some concern in the study area because of its potential to be bioaccumulated through successive trophic levels. Advisories against fish consumption have been issued for many streams in the Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain of South Carolina because of high mercury concentrations in the filets of popular game fish. Although not directly comparable to concentrations in the filets of game fish, liver tissue from common carp (Cyprinus carpio) from the Edisto and Wateree Rivers contained mercury concentrations that exceeded the South Carolina action level of 0.5 microgram per gram (dry weight). Mercury concentration in the tissue of Asiatic clams from the Edisto River was 24 times higher than the State fish-consumption advisory level.

Citation

Abrahamsen, Thomas A. 1999. Trace Elements in Bed Sediments and Biota from Streams in the Santee River Basin and Coastal Drainages, North and South Carolina, 1995-97. In: Trace Elements in Bed Sediments and Biota from Streams in the Santree River Basin and Coastal Drainages, North and South Carolina, 1995-1997