A probabilistic risk assessment of the effects of methylmercury and PCBS on mink and kingfishers along East Fork Poplar Creek, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA

Over fifty years of operations, storage, and disposal of wastes from the U.S. Department of Energy (U.S. DOE) Y-12 nuclear weapons facility at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA, has resulted in the contamination of water sediment, biota, and floodplain soils of East Fork Poplar Creek. A preliminary assessment revealed that methylmercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were the contaminants of most concern. Because these contaminants are persistent, accumulate in tissues, and biomagnify up the food chain, piscivorous wildlife are the biota at greatest risk of exposure. The objective of this study was to estimate the risks posed by methylmercury and PCBs to two piscivorous species: mini; and belted kingfishers. We conducted Monte Carlo [...]