Appendix D Food Codes for NHANES - OEHHA

SRP Review Draft Version 2 June, 2012
In a three-generation laboratory study, a BCF of 2 to 3 was estimated for Pb in muscle
tissue of first and second generation brook trout (Holcombe et al., 1976). Exposure to
Pb in water was for 38 and 70 weeks in first and second generation fish, respectively.
The concentration of Pb in muscle had reached equilibrium at about 20 weeks of
exposure.
Whole bluegill Pb concentrations have been shown to be as much as 10 times higher in
bluegills from low-pH lakes (pH≤6.0) compared to bluegills from circumneutral-pH lakes
(pH 6.7-7.5) (Spry and Wiener, 1991). In another study, whole-fish Pb levels in sunfish
increased almost three-fold when lake water pH was decreased from 7.5 to 6.0 (Merlini
and Pozzi, 1977b).
In other field studies, Pb accumulated to greater extent in muscle of white suckers and
yellow perch from an acidic lake compared to more neutral lakes (Heit et al., 1989;
Stripp et al., 1990) (Table I.8). With increasing lake acidity, muscle bioaccumulation of
Pb became increasingly higher in bottom-dwelling, omnivorous white suckers compared
to carnivorous yellow perch. Thus, contact with sediments by bottom-dwelling fish
increases Pb bioaccumulation.
A considerably greater concentration of Pb was found in surface sediments (880-1005
µg/g) of the lakes compared to the water (2.0-3.0 ng/g) (Stripp et al., 1990). It was
postulated that higher levels in fish tissues from acidic lakes result from increased
mobilization of the cationic Pb species from sediments coupled with an increase in the
cationic Pb species in the acidic water.
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