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Copper, cadmium, and zinc concentrations in aquatic food chains from the upper sacramento river (california) and selected tributaries

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Abstract

Metals enter the Upper Sacramento River above Redding, California, primarily through Spring Creek, a tributary that receives acid-mine drainage from a US EPA Superfund site known locally as Iron Mountain Mine. Waterweed (Elodea canadensis) and aquatic insects (midge larvae, Chironomidae; and mayfly nymphs, Ephemeroptera) from the Sacramento River downstream from Spring Creek contained much higher concentrations of copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), and zinc (Zn) than did similar taxa from nearby reference tributaries not exposed to acid-mine drainage. Aquatic insects from the Sacramento River contained especially high maximum concentrations of Cu (200 mg/kg dry weight in midge larvae), Cd (23 mg/kg dry weight in mayfly nymphs), and Zn (1,700 mg/kg dry weight in mayfly nymphs). Although not always statistically significant, whole-body concentrations of Cu, Cd, and Zn in fishes (threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus; Sacramento sucker, Catostomus occidentalis; Sacramento squawfish, Ptychocheilus grandis; and chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytasch) from the Sacramento River were generally higher than in fishes from the reference tributaries.

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Author notes

  1. M. K. Saiki & B. A. Martin

    Present address: National Biological Service, Midwest Science Center Field Research Station, 6924 Tremont Road, 95620, Dixon, California, USA

  2. D. T. Castleberry

    Present address: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Sacramento/San Joaquin Estuary Fishery Resource Office, 4001 North Wilson Way, 95205, Stockton, CA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Biological Service, Midwest Science Center Field Research Station, 6924 Tremont Road, 95620, Dixon, California, USA

    D. T. Castleberry

  2. National Biological Service, Midwest Science Center, 4200 New Haven Road, 65201, Columbia, Missouri, USA

    T. W. May

  3. National Biological Service, Midwest Science Center Field Research Station, RR 1, Box 295, 57078, Yankton, South Dakota, USA

    F. N. Bullard

Authors
  1. M. K. Saiki
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  2. D. T. Castleberry
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  3. T. W. May
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  4. B. A. Martin
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  5. F. N. Bullard
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Saiki, M.K., Castleberry, D.T., May, T.W. et al. Copper, cadmium, and zinc concentrations in aquatic food chains from the upper sacramento river (california) and selected tributaries. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 29, 484–491 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00208378

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00208378

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