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<br />I <br />I <br />,I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />j <br />I <br />I <br />t <br />t <br />i <br />I <br />j, <br />t <br />! I <br />I <br />II <br />I <br /> <br />001552 <br /> <br />Executive Summary <br /> <br />In October of 1992, Environmental Contaminants Program personnel from the U.S. Fish <br />and Wildlife Service's New Mexico Ecological Services State Office assayed bile collected <br />from San Juan River flannelmouth suckers for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHl <br />metabolites. The objective of this study was to determine if San Juan fish, including <br />endangered fish (i.e., Colorado squawfish), are being exposed to PAH contamination. <br />Thirty-two bile samples from twenty-four flannelmouth suckers were collected along five <br />separate reaches of the San Juan River between river mile markers 80 and 156. <br /> <br />This report presents data showing the presence of three PAH compounds, naphthalene, <br />phenanthrene and benzo[a]pyrene (SaP), and the findings of a literature search concerning <br />the possible deleterious effects of these compounds on fish in the San Juan River. <br /> <br />All of the fish samples analyzed contained levels of naphthalene and phenanthrene and <br />eleven of the twenty-four samples contained levels of SaP. Variations in fish species, life <br />histories, habitat preferences, feeding habits, and physiology limit the conclusions that can <br />be drawn from noting the observed levels of PAHs. Also, the PAH aquatic biotoxicity <br />database is probably too limited at this point, especially for flannelmouth suckers, to use <br />the data presented in this report to forecast ecological risks to San Juan River fish <br />communities. However, due to the high carcinogenicity of this group of compounds, the <br />fact that there is evidence of widespread contamination in one fish species warrants <br />concern for the health of the entire San Juan River aquatic ecosystem. <br /> <br />ill <br /> <br />.1i~,.;."" <br />