7085

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7085
• Author: Eisler, R.
• Title: Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Hazards to Fish, Wildlife, and Invertebrates
• USFW Year: 1987.
• USFW - Doc Type: A Synoptic Review.
• Copyright Material: NO

with industrial PAH wastes have directly caused elevated PAH body burdens and
increased frequency of liver neoplasia in fishes.
At present, no criteria or standards have been promulgated for PAHs by
any regulatory agency for the protection of sensitive species of aquatic
organisms or wildlife. This observation was not unexpected in view of the
paucity of data on PAH background concentrations in wildlife and other natural
resources, the absence of information on results of chronic oral feeding
studies of PAH mixtures, the lack of a representative PAH mixture for test
purposes, and the demonstrable--and, as yet, poorly understood--effects of
biological and nonbiological modifiers on PAH toxicity and metabolism. By
contrast, criteria for human health protection and total PAHs, carcinogenic
PAHs, and benzo(a)pyrene have been proposed for drinking water and air, and
for total PAHs and benzo(a)pyrene in food: drinking water, 0.01 to <0.2 ug
total PAHs/1, <0.002 ug carcinogenic PAHs/1, and <0.0006 ug ?enzo(a)pyrene/1;
air, <0.01 ug 3total PAHs/m , <0.002 ug carcinogenic PAHs/m , and <0.0005 ug
benzo(a)pyrene/m ; food, 1.6 to <16.0 ug total PAHs daily, and 0.16 to 4.6 ug
benzo(a)pyrene daily. In view of the carcinogenic characteristics of many PAH
compounds and their increasing concentrations in the environment, it now seems
prudent to reduce or eliminate them wherever possible, pending acquisition of
more definitive ecotoxicological data.
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