Common Questions

What is a contaminant?
Where do contaminants come from?
How much contamination are we talking about?
How do contaminants affect fish and wildlife?
What is DDT?
What are PCBs?
What are some of the other contaminants the Service investigates?
What is point source pollution? Nonpoint source?
How do your activities differ from the EPA's?

What is a Contaminants?

Any physical, chemical, biological, or radiological substance or matter that has an adverse effect on air, water, or soil.

Where do Contaminants Come From?

Contaminants enter the environment in many different ways; disposal of municipal wastes, factory discharges, and oil or chemical spills are a few examples. These examples are considered forms of "point source" (or "end of the pipe") pollution because their origin is easily recognized.

In many cases, the origin of pollution may not be as clear. For example, agricultural pesticides can be carried by runoff, or enter an aquifer, and end up contaminating a stream dozens of miles away. Pollutants can also be carried for long distances through the air and deposited on land and in water by rain. Such examples are called "non-point source" pollution. Pollution from non-point sources can contaminate areas that may appear to be relatively untouched. For example, 41 of our nation's Fish and Wildlife Service management units (national wildlife refuges, waterfowl production areas, etc.) have advisories against consumption of fish, shellfish, or other wildlife, and a number of our national wildlife refuges have either known or suspected contaminant problems.

We are still learning what happens to contaminants once they enter the environment and the effects they have not only on fish, wildlife, and their habitat, but also on human health. It is often years, if not decades, before we may become aware that a chemical is having a harmful effect on our natural resources and, even if its use is banned, it may continue to persist in the environment for a very long time.

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• In 2007, facilities reported releasing close to 4.1 billion pounds of toxic chemicals into the air, land, water and underground. USEPA. 2007 TRI Public Data Release Brochure.
• During 2007, 35,274 chemical and oil spills were reported. National Response Center: Incidents by type Per Year 1997-2007. US Dept. of Transportation, US Coast Guard, Washington, D.C.
• At the end of 200, there were approximately 1,245 Superfund sites. USEPA FY 2007 Superfund Annual Report [1.9 MB pdf file].
• In 2001, the most current year available, pesticide use was estimated to be over 5 billion pounds, almost 1/4th of which was used in the United States alone. Pesticide Industry Sales and Usage: 2000 and 2001 Market Estimates [pdf file]. U.S. EPA, Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances. August 1997.
• In 2008, All 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. territories of American Samoa and Guam, and five Native American tribes, had fish consumption advisories; of those, 38 were STATEWIDE fish consumption advisories for certain types of waterbodies (e.g., lakes, rivers, and/or coastal waters). National Listing of Fish and Wildlife Advisories. Technical Fact Sheet: 2008 Biennial National Listing. U.S. EPA, Water Science.
• The number of fish (consumption) advisories increased from 3,089 in 2004* to 3,852 in 2006 and to 4,249 in 2008. Approximately 18 million lake acres and 1.4 million river miles were under advisory in 2008. National Listing of Fish and Wildlife Advisories. Technical Fact Sheet: 2008 Biennial National Listing. U.S. EPA, Water Science.
• Currently, the 4,249 advisories in the national listing represent 43 percent of the nation’s total lake acreage and 39 percent of the nation’s total river miles. From 2006 to 2008, the number of lake acres under advisory increased by 18 percent, and the number of river miles increased by 52 percent. National Listing of Fish and Wildlife Advisories. Technical Fact Sheet: 2008 Biennial National Listing. U.S. EPA, Water Science.

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• Each year hundreds of fish kills are reported
• Approximately 67 million birds die each year from pesticide poisoning. Deinlein, Mary. When it Comes to Pesticides, Birds are Sitting Ducks. Fact Sheet. Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center.
• In 1995, 20,000 Swainson's hawks (5% of the world's population) were killed from pesticide poisoning in the agricultural pampas region of Argentina.
• Effects on fish and wildlife that have been noted with some chemicals currently registered for use in the United States include: death due to acute poisoning, reproductive, developmental, and behavioral problems; immune system dysfunction; and premature death.

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What is point source pollution? Nonpoint source?

Point Source Pollution (PS) happens when a pollutant comes from a definite source such as wastewater discharged from the pipes of industrial facilities and municipal sewage treatment plants into rivers, streams, lakes, and the ocean.

Non-point Source Pollution (NPS) pollution comes from many diffuse sources. NPS pollution is caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground. As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants, finally depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters, and even our underground sources of drinking water.

What is the difference between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Environmental Contaminants Program activities and the EPA's activities?

Maintaining a healthy environment is an immense responsibility. As the world's human population grows and contaminants accumulate in the environment, the responsibility looms even larger. In fact, it often takes both the EPA and the Service to detect the problems and begin to solve them. The responsibilities of these two agencies are often complementary; providing for the protection of both human health and safety and fish and wildlife resources. Here's how the agencies differ:

EPA:

• The EPA's emphasis is on human health and safety; Any benefits to fish and wildlife are indirect.
• The EPA often does not address off-site contamination of natural resources, such as wetland sediments.

FWS:

• The Service focuses on the protection of fish, wildlife, and their habitats.
• The FWS is concerned with both on and off-site contaminant impacts.
• FWS contaminants specialists provide technical support to the EPA on natural resource issues.

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* EPA Fact Sheet. Update: National Listing of Fish and Wildlife Advisories 2004 [pdf file].