Information on two projects undertaken by the Hudson River Natural Resource Trustees as part of the ongoing Hudson River Natural Resource Damage Assessment was presented at the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry's 24th Annual (North American) Meeting in Austin, Texas, during November 9-13, 2003.

The U.S. Department of Interior, represented by the Northeast Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is a member of Hudson River Natural Resource Damage Assessment Natural Resource Trustees.

The poster, "PCB Contamination of Common Snapping Turtle Eggs from the Hudson River, New York" (available online) discusses the results of the trustees' June 2002 collection of eggs from common snapping turtles from various sites along the Hudson River and subsequent analysis of those eggs for PCBs. Total PCBs (as sum of homologues) in those Hudson River snapping turtle egg samples ranged from about 70 parts per billion (ppb) to about 31,800 ppb. PCB concentrations in snapping turtle egg samples tended to display a decreasing concentration gradient moving downstream from Hudson Falls to Lower Schodack Island.

The presentation, "Egg PCB Contamination of Various Avian Feeding Guilds from the Upper Hudson River Valley" (also available online), discusses the Trustees' spring-to-summer 2002 collection of eggs from 11 avian species in the Upper Hudson River Valley and subsequent analysis of those eggs for PCBs. Total PCB concentrations ranged from 20 ppb (parts per billion) to about 56,150 ppb and varied by avian species and collection location.

Data reports on these two preliminary investigations are in preparation and will be posted on the trustees' Web sites.

The results of the investigation will be used to guide future studies.

NORTHEAST REGION, U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE -- Conserving the Nature of the Northeast