National Status and Trends: Mussel Watch Program

Mussel Watch is the longest running continuous chemical contaminant monitoring program in U.S. coastal and Great Lakes waters and was created in response to concerns over environmental quality of the Nation's coastal and estuarine ecosystems. The Program analyzes chemical and biological contaminant trends in sediment and bivalve tissue collected at over 300 coastal sites from 1986 to present. Parameters monitored include over 150 organic and inorganic contaminants, in sediment and bivalve tissue and bivalve histology; and Clostridium perfringens (pathogen) concentrations. Some of the chemicals regularly quantified include: PAHs, PCBs, chlorinated pesticides including DDT and its metabolites, TBT and its metabolites, major andtrace elements. In addition to the aforementioned legacy contaminants, new contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) such as flame retardant polybrominated biphnyl ethers (PBDEs) and pharmaceutics are being analyzed.

Data and Resources

Field Value
accessLevel public
accrualPeriodicity irregular
bureauCode {006:48}
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identifier National Status and Trends: Mussel Watch Program
language {en-US}
modified 2010-07-30
old-spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-162.7207, 17.93917], [-66.1813, 17.93917], [-66.1813, 61.13283], [-162.7207, 61.13283], [-162.7207, 17.93917]]]}
programCode {006:055}
publisher National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service, National Centers for Coastal and Ocean Science, Center for Coastal Montioring and Assessment (CCMA) (Point of Contact)
resource-type Dataset
source_datajson_identifier true
source_hash 06815b03f04e62d6ef1a204ca7bfcf6e408c28ed
source_schema_version 1.1
spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-162.7207, 17.93917], [-66.1813, 17.93917], [-66.1813, 61.13283], [-162.7207, 61.13283], [-162.7207, 17.93917]]]}
Groups
  • AmeriGEOSS
  • National Provider
  • North America
Tags
  • alaska
  • amerigeo
  • amerigeoss
  • bivalve-mollusk
  • butyltins
  • ckan
  • coastal-ecosystem-science
  • coastal-monitoring
  • contaminant
  • east-coast
  • environmental-monitoring
  • geo
  • geoss
  • gonadal-index
  • great-lakes
  • gulf-coast
  • hawaii
  • histopathology
  • inorganic-and-organic-analytes
  • mercury
  • metal
  • mussel
  • mussel-watch
  • national
  • north-america
  • nsandt
  • organochlorine
  • oyster
  • pah
  • pbde
  • pcb
  • pesticide
  • polybrominated-diphenyl-ether
  • polychlorinated-biphenyl
  • polycyclic-aromatic-hydrocarbons
  • puerto-rico
  • sediment
  • tbt
  • trace-element
  • united-states
  • west-coast
isopen False
license_id notspecified
license_title License not specified
maintainer National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service, National Centers for Coastal and Ocean Science, Center for Coastal Montioring and Assessment (CCMA)
maintainer_email Dennis.Apeti@noaa.gov
metadata_created 2025-11-22T13:32:07.809683
metadata_modified 2025-11-22T13:32:07.809687
notes Mussel Watch is the longest running continuous chemical contaminant monitoring program in U.S. coastal and Great Lakes waters and was created in response to concerns over environmental quality of the Nation's coastal and estuarine ecosystems. The Program analyzes chemical and biological contaminant trends in sediment and bivalve tissue collected at over 300 coastal sites from 1986 to present. Parameters monitored include over 150 organic and inorganic contaminants, in sediment and bivalve tissue and bivalve histology; and Clostridium perfringens (pathogen) concentrations. Some of the chemicals regularly quantified include: PAHs, PCBs, chlorinated pesticides including DDT and its metabolites, TBT and its metabolites, major andtrace elements. In addition to the aforementioned legacy contaminants, new contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) such as flame retardant polybrominated biphnyl ethers (PBDEs) and pharmaceutics are being analyzed.
num_resources 3
num_tags 41
title National Status and Trends: Mussel Watch Program