TitleA passive sampling model to predict PAHs in butter clams (Saxidomus giganteus), a traditional food source for Native American tribes of the Salish Sea Region.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2019
AuthorsD Minick J, L Paulik B, Scott RP, Kile M, Rohlman D, Anderson KA
JournalMar Pollut Bull
Volume145
Pagination28-35
Date Published2019 Aug
ISSN1879-3363
Animals, Bivalvia, Consumer Product Safety, Environmental Monitoring, Food Contamination, Humans, Indians, North American, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, Shellfish, Water Pollutants, Chemical

Native Americans face disproportionate exposures to environmental pollution through traditional subsistence practices including shellfish harvesting. In this study, the collection of butter clams (Saxidomus giganteus) was spatially and temporally paired with deployment of sediment pore water passive samplers at 20 locations in the Puget Sound region of the Salish Sea in the Pacific Northwest, USA, within adjudicated usual and accustomed tribal fishing grounds and stations. Clams and passive samplers were analyzed for 62 individual PAHs. A linear regression model was constructed to predict PAH concentrations in the edible fraction of butter clams from the freely dissolved fraction (C) in porewater. PAH concentrations can be predicted within a factor of 1.9 ± 0.2 on average from the freely dissolved PAH concentration in porewater using the following equation: PAHClam=4.1±0.1×PAHporewater This model offers a simplified, cost effective, and low impact approach to assess contaminant levels in butter clams which are an important traditional food.

10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.05.020
Alternate JournalMar Pollut Bull
PubMed ID31590789
PubMed Central IDPMC7094077
Grant ListP30 ES000210 / ES / NIEHS NIH HHS / United States
P42 ES016465 / ES / NIEHS NIH HHS / United States
T32 ES007060 / ES / NIEHS NIH HHS / United States