Studies of Fish Tissue Contamination
Environmental monitoring provides crucial data for describing the condition of the environment and for assessing the effectiveness of pollution control activities. EPA has been collecting and analyzing fish tissue for contaminants since the 1990s. EPA collaborates with federal agencies, states, tribes, and other partners to conduct freshwater fish contamination studies. Several of the studies are part of a series of statistically based surveys to produce information on the condition of lakes, streams, rivers, and coastal waters in the United States. These studies provide data on the concentrations and frequency of occurrence of a variety of chemicals that are found in fish tissue.