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Missouri Department of Conservation, Mchael McKee

Lead (Pb) and calcium (Ca) concentrations were measured in fillet samples of longear sunfish (Lepomis megalotis) and suckers (Catostomidae) collected in 2005‒12 from the Big River, which drains a historical mining area in southeastern Missouri, where a consumption advisory is in effect due to elevated Pb concentrations in fish. Regression analysis indicated that fillet Ca explained 75‒>99% of fillet Pb variation in mining-affected stream reaches. We used analysis-of-covariance to standardize Pb concentration to a common Ca concentration (415 ug/g wet weight), which reduced differences between taxa. Variation among sites and years also was reduced after Ca-normalization, as was the number of samples that exceeded...
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