Evaluation of Mercury Levels in Water and Fish Tissue in Kaw Lake, Oklahoma, 2022 | Chapter 3 | Geography, Earth Science and Environment: Research Highlights Vol. 8

Mercury is a naturally occurring metal found throughout the environment. Most of the mercury found in the environment is in the form of metallic and inorganic mercury compounds. The Kaw Nation has been collecting water, sediment, and fish samples from Kaw Lake and the upper Arkansas River from 2007 to examine the concentrations of Mercury and other heavy metals to protect the health of the tribal members. Kaw Lake is in the North-Central part of Oklahoma. Kaw Lake is a permanent water body constructed in 1976 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Arkansas River and other tributaries feed the Lake as runoff comes from Colorado through Kansas to Kaw Lake of Oklahoma. The Lake has a surface area of 26.64 square miles (69 km²) and a shoreline of 168 miles (270 km) with a total drainage area of 56,345 square miles (145,393 km²) and an average water depth of 8 meters. The water and fish samples were randomly collected from 7 sites of Kaw Lake, once a month, and the fish samples once a year during summertime, early July to the end of July. The fish samples focused on 5 sport, predator, and bottom dwelling species of large consumable size, greater than 200 mm length and 560 grams weight. The five fish sampled were Catfish, White bass, Largemouth and Smallmouth bass, Black and White crappie. The fish and water samples were sent to Accurate Environmental Labs for detailed analysis. Predator species were analyzed as fillets and the bottom dwellers as a whole fish using EPA Method 7471A-M. Mercury in water and fish tissue samples were analyzed using Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry. The laboratory analysis indicated that all the Mercury concentration in the fish samples except in Blue Catfish and Spotted Bass fall below the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 0.5 mg/kg. This study demonstrates that fish tissue analysis is a valuable indicator for monitoring water quality, detecting heavy metal toxicity, and raising public health awareness.

 

Author (s) Details

 

Dejene Alemayehu
Kaw Nation Environmental Department, Kaw City, USA.

 

Pratyaydipta Rudra
Department of Statistics, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, USA.

 

Skyler Mathews
Kaw Nation Environmental Department, Kaw City, USA.

 

Emily Douglas
Kaw Nation Environmental Department, Kaw City, USA.

Cody Regnier
Kaw Nation Environmental Department, Kaw City, USA.

 

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