# Identifying and Addressing Contaminant Risks in Fish Tissue in the Cape Fear River

> **NIH NIH P42** · DUKE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $92,660

## Abstract

Project Summary
Due to ubiquitous contamination from bioaccumulative carcinogens, endocrine disrupting
chemicals, and neurodevelopmental toxicants, fish consumption advisories are in effect in every
state in the US. These advisories are of vital importance to protecting the health of people who
rely on local fish for subsistence, particularly children and pregnant and nursing women due to
the development impacts of common contaminants. However, most fish advisories are based on
risk assessments of only the commonly caught species and consumption patterns of recreational
fishermen, limiting their relevance and effectiveness for subsistence populations. The goal of the
proposed project is to conduct research to support the refinement of fish consumption advisories
and outreach on the northeast Cape Fear River (CFR) in North Carolina to be more accurate and
specifically relevant to subsistence fish consumers. Fish and shellfish tissue from limited testing
on the CFR have shown levels of mercury, PCBs, selenium, arsenic, hexavalent chromium and
persistent pesticides above EPA standards for human consumption. The administrative
supplement would allow the Community Engagement Core (CEC) of the Duke University
Superfund Research Center (DUSRC) to respond to an expressed need of a coalition of
community-based organizations in this region with whom they have partnered around this issue
since 2016 by: 1) conducting contaminant analysis for the species of fish that people in this region
are consuming for subsistence; 2) test for contaminants we suspect may be present at elevated
levels but which are beyond those currently targeted by the NC Department of Environmental
Quality in setting fish advisories. The methods employed in this project will include: 1) intercept
surveys with subsistence fish consumers to understand where people are fishing and what
species they consume; 2) passive water sampling at five of these sites to detect concentrations
of PCBs, PAHs, and dioxins; 3) analysis of fish tissue from these sites for PCBs, dioxins, mercury,
arsenic, and hexavalent chromium. The results of this project will be directly applied to refine our
existing social marketing campaign in the region and to inform the setting of fish consumption
advisories by North Carolina state agencies and local health authorities. The project overlaps with
the focus of the DUSRC on early life exposure and later life consequences. The project also
overlaps with other DUSRC cores and projects: it draws on the methodological interests and
strengths of the Analytical Chemistry Core, connects to Project 4 on the impacts of PAHs on fish,
and supports the Research Translation Core’s aim of communicating research findings to policy
stakeholders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9944050
- **Project number:** 3P42ES010356-18S1
- **Recipient organization:** DUKE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Richard Di Giulio
- **Activity code:** P42 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $92,660
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2000-06-01 → 2022-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9944050

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9944050, Identifying and Addressing Contaminant Risks in Fish Tissue in the Cape Fear River (3P42ES010356-18S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9944050. Licensed CC0.

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