• Large River Monitoring Network (LRMN)  search BEST fish health and contaminant data from the Mississippi River Basin, Columbia River Basin, Rio Grande Basin, Yukon River Basin and the U.S. Southeast Rivers
  Online, interactive database that includes fish health from several large river basins of the U.S. View data by species, chemical, river basin, sampling station, fish health condition, reproductive or molecular biomarkers, and more.
   
• BEST Publications from CERC
  The USGS Biomonitoring of Environmental Status and Trends (BEST) Program was initiated, in part, as a revision and expansion of the National Contaminant Biomonitoring Program (NCBP). One aspect of the BEST program focuses on monitoring contaminants and effects across broad geographic areas. This approach is currently being evaluated in the Mississippi, Columbia, Rio Grande, and Yukon River basins. The overall objectives of the BEST program are to describe the occurrence and distribution of contaminants and their effects on fish in large US river basins; to quantitatively evaluate the performance of aquatic methods used by the BEST program; and to evaluate potential collaborations with the National Stream Quality Accounting Network (NASQAN) and the National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) programs of the USGS-Water Resources Division. Fish were collected from 46 sites in the Mississippi River basin (1995); 16 sites in the Columbia River basin (1997); 10 sites in the Rio Grande basin (1997); 10 sites in the Yukon basin (2002);  and from a reference site in West Virginia. Sites were located at the historic NCBP fish monitoring stations when possible; at NASQAN water quality sampling sites in the Columbia and Rio Grande basins; and at NAWQA sites in the Mississippi Embayment and Eastern Iowa Basins study units within the Mississippi River basin. The primary species targeted at each site were common carp (Cyprinus carpio) and largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) in the Mississippi, Columbia, and Rio Grande River basins and longnose suckers (Catostomidae) and northern pike (Esox lucius) in the Yukon River basin; other species, mostly other black basses (Micropterus spp.), percids (Stizostedion spp.), salmonids, suckers (Catostomidae), and catfish (Ictaluridae) were collected as alternates, depending on habitat and location. Individual fish (about 40 per station) were analyzed for reproductive biomarkers (vitellogenin and sex steroid hormones), histopathological alterations, macrophage aggregates, EROD activity, lysozyme activity, and general fish health measures (organosomatic and ponderal indices, observations of grossly visible lesions, deformities, and parasites). Organochlorine (pesticides and total PCB’s) and elemental (heavy metals and metalloids) contaminant analyses and the H4IIE bioassay for dioxin-like activity were performed on fish samples composited by species and sex.

When you connect to the NBII Metadata Clearinghouse service you will be able to search through metadata-based descriptions of biological data sets and information products from many different sources to identify those that meet your particular search criteria. NBII Metadata Clearinghouse Gateway

• Hostname of Server: aa015.cr.usgs.gov
• IP Address: 159.189.112.15
• TCP/IP Port Number: 6668
• Data Index Name: cerc
• Organization: USGS-Columbia Environmental Research Center
• Address: 4200 New Haven Rd.
• City: Columbia
• State/Province: Missouri
• Postalcode: 65201
• Country: USA
• User Support Hours: 7:30AM - 4:00PM Mon-Fri
• Telephone: 573-876-1884
• Fax: 573-876-1863
• Contact Name: Chris Henke
• Contact E-Mail: CHenke@usgs.gov
• Linked Since: 12/1999

The following database summarizes the results from aquatic acute toxicity tests conducted by the Columbia Environmental Research Center. The acute toxicity test provides a relative starting point for hazard assessment of contaminants and is required for federal chemical registration programs such as the Federal Insecticide Fungicide Rodenticide Act (PL 80-104) as amended by the Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act of 1972 (7 USC 136-136y) and the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (PL 94-469). Introduction to the Manual of Acute Toxicity: Interpretation and Database of 410 Chemicals and 66 Species of Freshwater Animals is available online.

The National Contaminant Biomonitoring Program (NCBP) was established to document trends in the occurrence of persistent toxic chemicals that may threaten fish and wildlife resources. Begun in the early 1960s as part of the National Pesticide Monitoring Program, the NCBP has expanded its initial focus on persistent organochlorine insecticides to include industrial chemicals, herbicides, and potentially toxic elemental contaminants. The program also provides necessary feedback to the regulatory process by documenting the success (or failure) of regulatory actions related to environmental contaminants. The NCBP provides a nationwide source of material that is searched analytically for the occurrence of new or previously undetected environmental contaminants to provide information on emerging problems and for the development of new and improved analytical methods. Through its archival function, the NCBP also provides a means for retrospective analyses and documentation of historical trends for newly identified environmental contaminants. Information from this historical program has also provided an impetus for developing a revised and expanded monitoring program (Biomonitoring of Environmental Status and Trends BEST), which was transferred to USGS in 1996.

The Sediment Effect Concentration Databases contain sediment information about the benthic diversity, laboratory toxicity, contaminant bioaccumulation, geographic locations, chemical concentration, and physical characteristics of samples from the Clark Fork River/Milltown Reservoir system in Montana, the Great lakes, the Upper Mississippi River, the Trinity River in Texas, Mobile Bay in Alabama and Galveston Bay in Texas. Sediment Effect Concentrations (SECs) are defined as the concentrations of individual contaminants in sediment above which toxicity is frequently observed.