1、APIAmerican Petroleum InstituteEvaluation of Water Quality Translatorsfor MercuryRegulatory Analysis and Scientific AffairsPUBLICATION 4751DECEMBER 2005Evaluation of Water Quality Translators forMercuryPrepared for the American Petroleum Institute by:ARCADIS24 Preble Street,Suite 100Portland,MEAPIAm
2、erican Petroleum InstituteACKNOWLEDGMENTSTHE FOLLOWING PEOPLE ARE RECOGNIZED FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTION OF TIME ANDEXPERTISE DURING THIS STUDY AND IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS REPORT:API STAFF CONTACTRoger Claff,Regulatory Analysis and Scientific AffairsMEMBERS OF THE CLEAN WATER ISSUES TASK FORCEJohn Cru
3、ze,Chairman,ConocoPhillipsJohn King,Vice Chairman,Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLCJeffrey Adams,BP America IncorporatedGregory Biddinger,ExxonMobil CorporationMickey Carter,ConocoPhillipsRichard Cuhna,ExxonMobil Refining and SupplyPeter Dahling,Chevron CorporationRees Madsen,BP Refining Shared Service
4、sSandy Martin,Shell Chemical Company IncorporatedDavid Pierce,Chevron Corporation Energy Technology CompanyJeff Richardson,BP PLCKim Wiseman,Chevron CorporationJenny Yang,Marathon Oil CompanyDavid Zabcik,Shell Oil Products USABSTRACTThis report discusses the technical issues and constraints associat
5、ed with translation of a mercury fish tissueconcentration into a water quality criterion,in the use and implementation of the Environmental ProtectionAgencys fish-tissue-based criterion for methylmercury(0.3 mg methylmercury/Kg wet weight fish tissue).Thereport focuses on available analytical method
6、s for evaluating mercury in fish and water;proposed methods fortranslating a fish tissue concentration for mercury into a concentration in water;and implementation of the mercurycriterion in the development of Total Maximum Daily Loads(TMDLs)and water quality-based effluent limits(WQBELs).The approa
7、ches to criteria translation are,in order of preference:(1)derive site-specificbioaccumulation factors(BAFs).(2)use a bioaccumulation model,or(3)use EPAs national default translators.The collection of site-specific data allows for the most accurate assessment of bioaccumulation:however.validationof
8、methylmercury analytical techniques is necessary to increase the certainty of results.Models have the potential toaccount for environmental factors contributing to data variability.but at present the available models are limited toreservoirs and lakes in a few geographic regions.Improvements in nati
9、onal default translators do not decrease theimportance of site-specific translators.National default values are likely to be inaccurate on a site-specific basis,given the very high degree of variability observed in mercury bioaccumulation rates.Research is needed to improvethe national default trans
10、lators currently proposed by EPA,and additional data would increase the effectiveness ofthe translator calculation methods by reducing variability and minimizing the uncertainty of the resulting defaultvalues.Given the many uncertainties associated with mercury translators,their use should be limited to cases wheresite-specific fish tissue data reveal the tissue-based water quality criterion has been exceeded,and point sourcesmake up a significant contribution of the total mercury loading to the water body.