Petroleum hydrocarbons in fish and sediments of NPR-A: Teshekpuk lake and Colville and Ikpikpuk rivers. Final report.

Abstract

This report describes a project which involved the assessment of levels of contamination (most specifically, levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) found in common fish species consumed for subsistence by the Inupiat population in the North Slope area of Alaska. To accomplish this objective, the project was undertaken from 2004 - 2005 and involved the following: to establish baseline values of PAHs in sediments collected from locations in Teshekpuk and Tusikvaak lakes and the Colville and Ikpikpuk rivers; to collect tissue samples and examine the PAH levels in the muscle and liver from four fish species commonly consumed by local communities, broad whitefish, round whitefish, burbot and lake trout; to assess the origin of oil pollution through "fingerprinting" to clarify whether PAHs are primarily from fresh or combusted oil sources; and to provide the results to the scientific community and to the local residents.