Research Product

One segment of the National Monitoring Program has been concerned with organochlorine pollution in estuaries. A summary of the data collected in 1965-68 was published in 1969 (BioScience, 19:389). That report discussed the usefulness of pelecypod molluscs (oysters, clams, mussels) as bioassay tools because of their sensitivity to these pollutants at parts-per-trillion levels and because tissue residues were quickly flushed away when the pollution was interrupted for periods as short as 2 weeks. This monitoring program was terminated in June 1972. A manascript discussing the results and including the analytical data of the 8095 samples has been submitted for publication to the Pesticides Monitoring Journal. The overall conclusions of this program are of sufficient general interest to warrant this brief comment.