National Status and Trends, Mussel Watch Program: A 2015 Assessment of Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Chesapeake Bay, MD and Charleston Harbor, SC National Status and Trends, Mussel Watch Program

The goal of this document is to provide a summary of findings from two NCCOS Mussel Watch pilot studies which assessed contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in 2015 in Chesapeake Bay, Maryland and the Charleston Harbor estuary, South Carolina. The document is organized into five chapters that introduce and explain the rationale, procedures, design, and findings of the studies. Chapter 1 presents introductory materials that provide background information on NCCOS’ National Status and Trends’ Mussel Watch Program, the study areas, as well as some general information about the environmental fate and transport of CECs measured. Chapter 2 offers a summary of all the results from both Maryland (MD) and South Carolina (SC) studies in order to provide a study-wide perspective of what CECs were found and how often they were detected. Chapter 3 provides information on standard methodologies used by the NCCOS Mussel Watch Program for sample collection as well as the analytical procedures for measured CECs. Chapters 4 and 5 present detailed information and results specific to the MD and SC pilot studies, respectively. These include specific descriptions of the study areas, detailed study design, and concentrations for those CECs that were detected.