Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA) 1991 table Silver Spring, MD NOAA's Ocean Service, National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) http://NSandT.noaa.gov The National Status and Trends (NSandT) Benthic Surveillance Fluorescent Aromatic Compounds (FAC) file reports the trace concentrations of Fluorescent Aromatic Compounds. The presence of FACs in fish liver and bile indicate exposure to toxins, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The Benthic Surveillance Fluorescent Aromatic Compounds file is constructed as a horizontally formatted table. In response to concerns over environmental quality of the Nation's coastal and estuarine ecosystems, NOAA created the National Status and Trends (NSandT) Program in 1984. From 1984 through 1993, the Benthic Surveillance Project monitored chemical concentrations in the livers (and for metabolites of PAH's in the bile) of bottom-dwelling fish and in sediments at the sites of fish capture. The Benthic Surveillance Project also measured the biological effects of contaminant exposure, primarily as prevalence's of toxicopathic liver diseases. 1984 1991 publication date Complete None planned -166.5 -67.3 70.5 25.6 CoRIS Discovery Thesaurus Numeric Data Sets > Chemical Contaminants ISO 19115 Topic Category environment 007 oceans 014 CoRIS Theme Thesaurus EARTH SCIENCE > Human Dimensions > Environmental Impacts > Contaminants None Chemical contaminants of benthic fish FAC Fluorescent Aromatic Compounds Bioindicator Pollution Coastal Monitoring Oceans NSandT NS&T None U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone Baltimore Harbor, Brewerton Channel Barataria Bay, Barataria Pass Beaufort Sea, Oliktok Point Bering Sea, Dutch Harbor Biscayne Bay, Chicken Key Boca de Quadra, Bacrian Point Bodega Bay, North Boston Harbor, Deer Island Buzzards Bay, West Island Calcasieu River, Bayou d Inde Cape Elizabeth, Richmond Island Cape Fear River, Horseshoe Shaol Casco Bay, Great Chebeague Island Charleston Harbor, Coastal Charlotte Harbor, Cape Haze Chesapeake Bay, Chester River Choctawhatchee Bay, Choctawhatchee Bay Chukchi Sea, Red Dog Mine Columbia River, Desdemona Sands Coos Bay, North Bend Corpus Christi Bay, Long Reef Dana Point, Inside Harbor Dana Point Harbor, Outside Delaware Bay, Brandywine Shoal Estero Bay, Estero Bay Frenchmans Bay, Long Porcupine Island Galveston Bay, East Bay Great Bay, Intracoastal Waterway Gulf of Alaska, Kamishak Bay Heron Bay, Heron Bay Hudson River, Englewood Cliffs Humboldt Bay, Indian Island Johns Bay, Pemaquid Neck Lavaca Bay, Point Comfort Long Island Sound, Lloyd Point Lower Laguna Madre, Laguna Heights Lutak Inlet, Chilkoot River Mouth Machias Bay, Chance Island Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth Entrance Merrimac River, Plum Island Mission Bay, Outside Mississippi River Delta, Head of Passes Mobile Bay, North Point Monterey Bay, Indian Head Beach Nahku Bay, East Side Narragansett Bay, Conanicut Island New Bedford Harbor, Clarks Point Niantic Bay, Black Point Norton Sound, Nome Pamlico Sound, Jones Bay Pascagoula River, Escatawpa River Penobscot Bay, Colt Head Island Pensacola Bay, Pensacola Bay Prince William Sound, Port Valdez Puget Sound, Commencement Bay Raritan Bay, East Reach Round Island, Round Island Salem Harbor, Folger Point San Antonio Bay, Mosquito Point San Diego Bay, Harbor Island San Francisco Bay, Castro Creek San Luis Obispo Bay, San Luis Obispo Bay San Pedro Bay, Cerritos Channel Santa Monica Bay, Manhatten Beach Sapelo Sound, Dog Hammock Savannah River, Elba Island Skagway, Skagway River St. Andrews Bay, Military Point St. Johns River, Arlington Channel St. Lucie River, Stuart Tampa Bay, Northern Tampa Bay Apalachicola Bay, St. George Island CoRIS Place Thesaurus OCEAN BASIN > Atlantic Ocean > North Atlantic Ocean > Florida COUNTRY/TERRITORY > United States of America > Florida OCEAN BASIN > Atlantic Ocean OCEAN BASIN > Pacific Ocean CoRIS Region Florida None NOAA requests that all individuals who download NSandT data acknowledge the source of these data in any reports, papers, or presentations. If you publish these data, please include a statement similar to: "Some or all of the data described in this article were produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration through its National Status and Trends Program". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA) National Status and Trends, Benthic Surveillance Project Manager mailing and physical address

1305 East West Highway N/SCI1

Silver Spring MD 20910 301-713-3028 301-713-4388 Microsoft Windows 2000 Version 5.0 (Build 2195) Service Pack 3; ESRI ArcCatalog 8.3.0.800 The quality of the analytical data generated by the NSandT Program is overseen by the QA Project component, which has been in operation since 1985 and is designed to document sampling and analytical procedures, and to reduce intralaboratory and interlaboratory variation. The QA Project documentation will facilitate comparisons among different monitoring programs with similar QA activities and thus will extend the temporal and spatial scale of such programs. To document laboratory expertise, the QA Project requires all NSandT laboratories to participate in a continuing series of intercomparison exercises utilizing a variety of materials. The organic analytical intercomparison exercises are coordinated by the NIST, and the inorganic exercises by the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada. Details of quality assurance for the Benthic Surveillance Program can be found in Lauenstein and Cantillo, 1993.The analytical instruments were calibrated by standard laboratory procedures including: constructing calibration curves, running blank and spiked quality control samples, and analyzing standard reference materials. Fish in the correct size range were dissected in the onboard laboratory immediately after collection. This ensured that a determination could be made regarding whether sufficient material had been collected and whether the sample material was of high quality. If either one of these criteria was not met, the opportunity existed to continue sample collection. Also, field dissection minimizes contamination problems associated with dissection of frozen fish samples. Frozen fish tissues when thawed, may lose their integrity and one tissue type may contaminate another (e.g., a liver sample could be contaminated by PAH metabolites from the bile duct).Because most fish were dissected onboard ship, a special effort was made to develop an environment as close to clean-room conditions as possible. All fish were dissected in positive pressure laminar flow hoods. Air was drawn into the laminar flow hood from above and filtered by a high efficiency particle attenuator (HEPA) filter before it passed over the fish samples. Stainless steel tools were used to dissect fish for organic analysis. Titanium tools were used to dissect fish for trace metal analyses because tools made of this element do not pose the problem of introducing nickel, chromium, and/or iron into the specimens to be analyzed. Specimens were analyzed for the latter three elements by the NSandT Program. After knives had been sharpened, and before dissections began at a new site or of a new species, the dissection equipment was thoroughly cleaned with detergent solution, rinsed extensively with tap water, rinsed in distilled or high-purity water (i.e., milli-Q or HPLC-grade water), rinsed with isopropanol (dichloromethane before 1990) under a fume hood, followed by a rinse with distilled water, and placed on a similarly cleaned Teflon cutting board that was allowed to air-dry in the laminar-flow hood. Between individual fish of the same species at the same site, the tools were rinsed with distilled water before Analytical protocols for the quantification of the NSandT organic contaminants were developed by MacLeod et al. (1984) at the NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, WA. These methods were prescribed for all NMFS laboratories participating in the Benthic Surveillance Program, when it began in 1984. Three NMFS laboratories used these methods in 1984: Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC), Gloucester, MA; Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC), Charleston, SC; and Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC), Seattle WA. The philosophy associated with the development of exacting protocols for the quantification of organic contaminants was that the same analytical methods would increase the likelihood of data being comparable among laboratories. Even though interlaboratory comparisons were initiated at the start of the NSandT Program, it was felt that a method-driven QA and analytical effort for the quantification of organic contaminants was the best way to begin. In 1985, the protocols were updated by MacLeod et al., 1985. This method has been further edited and can be found in volume 1 of Technical Memorandum 71. The NSandT Mussel Watch Project (MWP) began in 1986. At that time, both the MWP and BSP laboratories were allowed to use any analytical method if it could be proven that the proposed alternate procedure was equal to or better than earlier MacLeod et al. (1984,1985) methods. The same kind of field/site data have been supplied since the start of the Benthic Surveillance Project, in 1984. Original site coordinates were derived from Loran-C time conversions. Early sites information resulting from Loran-C was converted from time delay information to latitudes and longitudes. These earlier data may be suspect when sites were located close to large structures that could have interfered with accurate time delays. When GPS was first available the signal was intentionally degraded so earlier coordinate information, even if it resulted from GPS, is not as accurate as data would be today.Because fish are not sessile, fish trawls have been made along different tracks in the water body of interest. The latitude/ longitude coordinates provided in this file represent a site center and trawling occurs within a 1 km radius of this location. The primary collection apparatus was Otter trawls. Occasionally, along the Southeast and Gulf Coasts, fish were taken with seine nets, gill nets, or with hook and line. These alternate collection methods were necessary because larger fish, such as older Atlantic croaker, were able to avoid an Otter trawl, or were found in untrawlable habitats such as shallow water, along marsh edges, and over oyster reefs. Fish in the correct size range were dissected in the onboard laboratory immediately after collection. This ensured that a determination could be made regarding whether sufficient material had been collected and whether the sample material was of high quality. If either one of these criteria was not met, the opportunity existed to continue sample collection.Because most fish were dissected onboard ship, a special effort was made to develop an environment as close to clean-room conditions as possible. All fish were dissected in positive pressure laminar flow hoods. Air was drawn into the laminar flow hood from above and filtered by a high efficiency particle attenuator (HEPA) filter before it passed over the fish samples. Stainless steel tools were used to dissect fish for organic analysis. Titanium tools were used to dissect fish for trace metal analyses because tools made of this element do not pose the problem of introducing nickel, chromium, and/or iron into the specimens to be analyzed. Specimens were analyzed for the latter three elements by the NSandT Program. After knives had been sharpened, and before dissections began at a new site or of a new species, the dissection equipment was thoroughly cleaned with detergent solution, rinsed extensively with tap water, rinsed in distilled or high-purity water (i.e., milli-Q or HPLC-grade water), rinsed with isopropanol (dichloromethane before 1990) under a fume hood, followed by a rinse with distilled water, and placed on a similarly cleaned Teflon cutting board that was allowed to air-dry in the laminar-flow hood. Between individual fish of the same species at the same site, the tools were rinsed with distilled water before any fluid or tissue had a chance to dry on the knife. Sexually mature fish were primarily used in this program, determined by size of each species.Process Date Range is 1984 - 1991 1991 National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA) National Status and Trends, Benthic Surveillance Project Manager mailing and physical address

1305 East West Highway N/SCI1

Silver Spring MD 20910 301-713-3028 301-713-4388 Point 0.0001 0.0001 Decimal Degrees Dataset Parameters for Benthic Surveillance Fluorescent Aromatic Compounds data The BSfac_h data file reports information regarding study parameters. National Status and Trends, Benthic Surveillance Project NST_SITE 5 letter code site identifier National Status and Trends, Benthic Surveillance Project User Defined YEAR Year the site was sampled National Status and Trends, Benthic Surveillance Project User Defined STATION Station, a sample location within a sample site. A responsible laboratory will then assign a unique sample id to distinguish samples within a site. National Status and Trends, Benthic Surveillance Project User Defined SPEC_CD1 Species Abbreviation: Usually a 2 or 3 letter code which identifies the common species name. For example AF is used to define Artic flounder. National Status and Trends, Benthic Surveillance Project User Defined SAMP_NO Unique Sample identification National Status and Trends, Benthic Surveillance Project User Defined REP Sample replicate National Status and Trends, Benthic Surveillance Project User Defined OTHER_CD Another site identifier, Codes used by NSandT participating laboratories. National Status and Trends, Benthic Surveillance Project User Defined FAC_HW Fluorescent aromatic compounds-high weight: Aromatic compounds fluorescing at benzo(a)pyrene wavelengths. National Status and Trends, Benthic Surveillance Project User Defined FAC_LW Fluorescent aromatic compounds-low weight: Aromatic compounds fluorescing at naphthalene wavelengths. National Status and Trends, Benthic Surveillance Project User Defined T_FAC Total fluorescent aromatic compounds: Sum of aromatic compounds fluorescing at benzo(a)pyrene wavelengths and at naphthalene wavelengths. National Status and Trends, Benthic Surveillance Project User Defined REV_FAC Last revision date of the fluorescent aromatic compounds file. National Status and Trends, Benthic Surveillance Project User Defined National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA) National Status and Trends, Benthic Surveillance Program Manager mailing and physical address

1305 East West Highway N/SCI1

Silver Spring MD 20910 301-713-3028 301-713-4388 Downloadable Data None ASCII http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/about/coast/nsandt/download.aspx None 20121220 20100521 National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS), National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA) National Status and Trends, Benthic Surveillance Project Manager mailing and physical address

1305 East West Highway N/SCI1

Silver Spring MD 20910 301-713-3028 301-713-4388 FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata FGDC-STD-001-1998 Local Time http://www.esri.com/metadata/esriprof80.html ESRI Metadata Profile 20100521123757 None 19840101 19911231 http://www.coris.noaa.gov/metadata/records/html/bsfac_h.html 4909