https://cdn.earthdata.nasa.gov/conduit/upload/5182/KeywordsCommunityGuide_Baseline_v1_SIGNED_FINAL.pdf 23.6 2026-03-19T10:41:57.720Z https://gcmd.earthdata.nasa.gov/KeywordViewer/scheme/projects/34ce8f21-1ae5-494a-baa6-3d7e585f0c50 NS&T The National Status and Trends (NS&T) program monitors the spatialdistributions, temporal trends and biological effects of chemical pollutantsin estuarine and coastal marine areas of the United States. The program wasdesigned to help determine the present conditions of the Nation's coastalmarine environment, and establish whether these conditions are improving ordeclining. To accomplish this, the program annually measures theconcentrations of selected contaminants in marine biota and sediments,collected from coastal areas around the country. The relationship betweencontaminant exposure and indicators of biological responses in marineorganisms is also examined. Policy makers and resource managers may use NS&Tdata to help assess the effects of human activities on the coastal marineenvironment and to indicate areas where pollution control measures are workingor might be needed.The NS&T program is administered by ORCA's Coastal Monitoring and BioeffectsDivision (CMBAD), in conjunction with NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service(NMFS) and the Office of NOAA Corps Operations; ORCA is a major line office ofthe National Ocean Service (NOS) within the National Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration (NOAA). Some components of the NS&T program are conductedthrough cooperative agreements with state and regional environmental monitoringprograms.The primary emphasis of the NS&T program is the determination of the statusand effects of toxic chemicals in coastal marine and estuarine areas. Throughits Mussel Watch Project, the program monitors the levels of over 70contaminants in sediments and the soft tissue of mussels and oysters. Theprogram's Benthic Surveillance Project monitors the same suite of chemicals insediments and benthic (bottom-dwelling) fish, and additionally analyzes fishfor disease conditions and specific physiological responses that areassociated with contaminant exposure. The chemicals selected by the NS&Tprogram serve as indicators of human activity and, at certain levels, may beacutely or chronically toxic to marine life. Monitored contaminants include24 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); 20 congeners of polychlorinatedbiphenyls (PCBs); 15 chlorinated pesticides, including Chlordane and DDT (andbreakdown elements of DDT); butyltins; four major elements; and 12 traceelements. Sediments also are analyzed for total organic carbon content (TOC),and for spore concentrations of the bacterium Clostridium perfringens, whichis associated with sewage contamination. The grain size distribution amongsediment particles also is recorded to account for differences amongcontaminant levels, due to differing capacities for sediments to accumulatecontaminants.The NS&T program also conducts Bioeffects Surveys, and prepares HistoricalTrends reports and Coastal Contamination Assessments in selected coastalareas. Bioeffects Surveys provide information on the magnitude and extent ofcontaminant-associated effects by measuring such properties as external andinternal disease, reproductive impairment and genetic damage in fish andbivalves, and sediment toxicity resulting from contaminants. HistoricalTrends reports identify patterns of contamination in selected coastal areasover extended periods of time. These studies compare new NS&T data withpertinent historical data, including chemical analyses of of sediment coresegments. Coastal Contamination Assessments combine contaminant findings withsuch estuarine-related information as hydrologic features, point sourcecharacteristics, and projected population trends to provide comprehensiveenvironmental assessments of selected coastal areas.The NS&T program concentrates on estuaries, bays, and near-shore marine areas.Through the program's Mussel Watch and Benthic Surveillance projects, samplesare collected at regular intervals from over 300 sites throughout the UnitedStates, including Alaska and Hawaii. Monitoring activities are designed todescribe national and regional distributions of contamination. Sampling sitesgenerally are located between 10 and 100 kilometers apart. Sites are selectedto represent contaminant levels in the surrounding area and to avoidsmall-scale patches of contamination, or 'hot spots'. Conversely, BioeffectsSurveys are performed in areas where NS&T monitoring projects indicate highchemical pollutant levels. These surveys are conducted primarily in urbanembayment areas, such as Boston Harbor, Tampa Bay, and the Southern CaliforniaBight. Coastal Contamination Assessments are directed toward estuaries andembayments such as the Long Island Sound, and larger regions, such the Gulf ofMaine. Sediment core samples for NS&T's Historical Trends studies also arecollected from selected estuaries and embayments.The NS&T program was initiated in 1984. A primary objective of the program isto determine the current status and distribution through time of chemicalpollutants. To accomplish this, samples are collected from most NS&Tmonitoring sites on an annual basis. Presently, the NS&T monitoring data basecontains data on contaminant concentrations in fish livers collected from 1984to 1988, and in molluscan tissues collected from 1986 to 1990. The data basealso contains data on contaminant concentrations in sediments from selectedsites collected from 1984 to the present. Recent trends in contamination maybe inferred by comparing NS&T data with relevant historical data, derived fromother sources. Data from NS&T core sample analyses will allow thedetermination of contaminant trends since pre-industrial times. Since 1986,the NS&T program has conducted biological effects surveys, ranging from two tofour years in duration.Quality Assurance is a major component of the NS&T program, as it is necessarythat the analytical data generated by participating laboratories be consistentand of known quality. Analytical procedures adhere to the standard proceduresof the NS&T Quality Assurance (QA) Project, established for all laboratoriesparticipating in the NS&T program. As part of the QA Project, laboratoriesassociated with the NS&T program participate in yearly intercomparisonexercises administered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology(NIST), and the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada. The NS&T programalso administers a 'specimen bank' of samples for the purpose of retrospectiveanalyses. Samples are collected from selected NS&T monitoring sites,preserved in liquid nitrogen and stored at -150 C at the NIST facility inGaithersburg, Maryland.NS&T data are available in a variety of reports and publications (over 400 todate). Raw data from the Benthic Surveillance Project (1984- 88) and MusselWatch Project (1986-90) are available upon request in microfiche format and on3.5' PC and Macintosh computer diskettes. In conjunction with ORCA'sStrategic Environmental Assessment Division (SEA), the NS&T program isdeveloping a desk-top database information and display system that will allowthe portrayal of spatial distributions and temporal trends of contamination inthe coastal marine environment. Software has been developed for examining,displaying, and mapping environmental and natural resource information onhigh-resolution base maps. Using Macintosh-related software, NS&T data willbe expressed in graph form and on high- resolution base maps.Point of contact:Andrew RobertsonThe National Status and Trends ProgramCoastal Monitoring and Bioeffects Assessment DivisionOffice of Ocean Resources Conservation and Assessment6001 Executive Blvd; Rm. 312Rockville, MD 20852(301) 443-8933Selected NS&T projects also are supported by a number of programs administeredby ORCA's Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Division, including theNational Coastal Pollutant Discharge Inventory (NCPDI), the National EstuarineInventory (NEI), and the National Shellfish Register.