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Spinal Deformities in Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Fish Linked to Toxic Mineral Selenium, New Research Shows

Ear bones of fish revealed “diary of selenium exposure” that was key to unraveling the mystery.
Captured in the wild and raised in tanks at UC Davis, Sacramento splittail show spinal deformities traced to exposure to selenium. Scientists used the fishes' ear bones, called otoliths, to track their exposure to selenium. Photo: Fred Feyrer/U.S. Geological Survey; fish in Rachel Johnson’s hands.

Native fish discovered with spinal deformities in California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in 2011 were exposed to high levels of selenium from their parents and food they ate as juveniles in the San Joaquin River, new research has found.

The finding published in Environmental Science and Technology indicates that some fish in the region may experience harmful levels of selenium. Selenium is a naturally occurring mineral that is essential to life but turns toxic and can cause deformities at high levels. Deformities were also found in birds exposed to selenium concentrated in agricultural runoff in the same area in the 1980s.

X-ray image of three Sacramento splittail with varying types of spinal deformities. The ear bones of the fish —visible in the x-ray as bright round bones marked by arrow—held a record similar to tree rings showing when in their lives they were exposed to elevated selenium linked to the deformities. Photo: Betty Ma, UC Davis Veterinary Services.
Biologists collected the juvenile fish, minnows known as Sacramento splittail, from a pumping station in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in 2011. They soon realized that more than 80 percent of the approximately 1,000 collected fish exhibited spinal deformities.

“This was not just a few fish, it was the majority of them,” said Fred Feyrer, a research fish biologist at the U.S. Geological Survey’s California Water Science Center and co-lead of the research.

FUll story: https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature- ... ovdelivery

The legacy of mining. If it's bad for fish, it can't be good for people.

Put a kink in your trick worm and hang on!

Good luck!

mark poulson wrote:The legacy of mining. If it's bad for fish, it can't be good for people.

farming

logger wrote:

mark poulson wrote:The legacy of mining. If it's bad for fish, it can't be good for people.

farming

How does farming affect selenium?

"Deformities were also found in birds exposed to selenium concentrated in agricultural runoff in the same area in the 1980s."

Scott L wrote:"Deformities were also found in birds exposed to selenium concentrated in agricultural runoff in the same area in the 1980s."

Thanks.

How does farming effect Selenium? The same way it did on Kestersen Wildlife Refuge in Merced County. In the 1980's birds nesting in the Selenium laden waters of the refuge were found to have deformities also. The water used to flood the refuge was from under ground tile drains that lowered the water tables and leached the selenium from farm ground into the San Luis drain. This drain was supposed to deliver water into the San Joaquin River but was diverted into the refuge to save money on building the canal. Over the years the selenium built up to toxic levels and all of the ponds were drained and covered over with clay from western Merced County.

Turkeyman wrote:How does farming effect Selenium? The same way it did on Kestersen Wildlife Refuge in Merced County. In the 1980's birds nesting in the Selenium laden waters of the refuge were found to have deformities also. The water used to flood the refuge was from under ground tile drains that lowered the water tables and leached the selenium from farm ground into the San Luis drain. This drain was supposed to deliver water into the San Joaquin River but was diverted into the refuge to save money on building the canal. Over the years the selenium built up to toxic levels and all of the ponds were drained and covered over with clay from western Merced County.

Thanks. I actually remember that, but never connected the two.