OverviewContaminants monitoring by the Illinois EPA in predatory, omnivorous, and bottom-feeding fish species from over 500 locations in Illinois. Focal species include largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, channel catfish, and carp. 1974-2008. Data include THg, additional pollutants, and morphometrics. Source Agency: Illinois Environmental Protection Agency ContactThomas Hornshaw, Address Phone: 217-785-0832 Fax: 217-782-1431 |
| Name of dataset | Illinois Fish Contaminant Monitoring Database |
| Geographic area | Illinois |
| State/Province | IL |
| Activity Category | Monitoring |
| Medium | fish |
| Focal species | largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, channel catfish, carp |
| Tissue Types | fillet |
| Approximate size of dataset | 11500 |
| Positional data available? | Yes |
| Start Date | 1974 |
| End Date | 2008 |
| Status | Ongoing |
| Collection season | spring, summer, fall |
| Collection Months | April-November |
| Current # Of Sampling Locations | varies |
| Historic # Of Sampling Locations | >500 |
| Size of Sampling Area | state of Illinois |
| Individual or composite samples? | Mostly Composite |
| Ecosystem Focus | water bodies |
| Additional Info | Prior to 1985, four different state laboratories performed analyses of samples, and there are known discrepancies among the labs' results for certain organics. We are not able to say if there were also discrepancies in mercury results for this period, but the Illinois EPA does not routinely use these Hg data in analyses. Since 1985, all samples have been analyzed by the Illinois EPA lab or a a contract lab under its supervision. The IL EPA does maintain a tissue bank of all samples from the preceding 15 years. |
| Data Use | Unrestricted for MercNet collaborators, By permission only |
| Quality Assurance | yes |
| Data Format | paper data sheets or lab notebooks, Microsoft Access, other electronic format |
| Hg Measurements | THg |
| Hg Measurement Weight | ww |
| Ancillary Data | weight, length, additional pollutants |
| BRI has data? | yes |
| Data downloadable on external website? | A partial dataset is available at http://www.epa.gov/storet/. |
| Other Databases | STORET |
| Comments | Some of these data are housed in the STORET database (http://www.epa.gov/storet/). Not all older records are in STORET. Please note that data prior to 1985 are not recommended for use in data analysis. |
