Nondestructive neutron activation analysis of marine organisms collected from ocean dump sites of the middle eastern United States.

The concentrations of eight metals were determined by a nondestructive neutron activation technique for eleven species of fish and shellfish. The marine organisms were collected from ocean dump sites off New York City, off New Haven, Connecticut, and off Delaware Bay. Antimony was not detected in most of the organisms examined in thid study; the detection limit was about 0.02 to 0.05 ppm. Antimony levels ranged from 0.01 to 0.129 ppm in fish that had detectable levels. Cobalt levels were low in all samples with most levels in the range of 0.1 to 0.3 ppm. Chromium concentrations at 0.3 to 1.0 ppm were only roughly quantitated by the procedure employed. Most marine organisms examined had chromium levels at or below these values. Nickel was not detected in any of the organisms examined; the detection limit was in the 3 to 6 ppm range. Rubidium concentrations were 0.6 to 1.5 ppm for most organisms; only rough quantitative measurement was possible at these levels. Selenium levels ranged from about 0.3 to 3.8 ppm in all samples. Silver concentrations were below 0.3 ppm in most organisms. Silver concentrations as high as 10 to 30 ppm, however, were found in the digestive gland of rock crab. Zinc levels in windowpane flounder liver were about 6 to 9 times greater than the 4 to 10 ppm levels found in muscle. Zinc concentrations in rock crab muscle, on the other hand, were only slightly higher than the 15 to 32 ppm concentration found in the digestive gland. Fish other than windowpane flounder had zinc levels that ranged from 4 to 9 ppm in the muscle and 14 to 42 ppm in the liver. Shellfish other than rock crab had zinc levels of 15 to 30 ppm in muscle and 17 to 40 ppm in the digestive gland.