National Institute of Standards and TechnologyNational Institute of Standards and TechnologyChemical Science and Technology LaboratoryChemical Science and Technology Laboratory

Analytical Chemistry DivisionAnalytical Chemistry DivisionGaithersburg, MD, and Charleston, SCGaithersburg, MD, and Charleston, SC

National Marine Mammal Tissue BankNational Marine Mammal Tissue Bank

Congress established the National Marine Mammal Tissue Bank (NMMTB) was established in 1992 (PL 102-587). Alaska Native hunters collect specimens for the NMMTB through the Alaska Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program.

If you have downloaded RealPlayer you can hear NMMTB staff explain what they do when you click on the whale tail.

Meet the NIST NMMTB staff

John Kucklick (on the right)

Steven Christopher Paul Becker

Organizations participating in the program include:

North Slope Borough Kawerak Geological Survey, AK Science Ctr. Fish and Wildlife Service National Marine Fisheries Service The Marine Mammal Center New England Aquarium University of North Carolina, Wilmington National Ocean Service, Coastal Center for

Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research

The NMMTB (National Marine Mammal

Tissue Bank) provides samples for:

Future studies of new contaminants Future studies using new techniques Comparing results over time

How does it work? Hunters collect samples

using exact procedures (“protocols”) developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

They collect samples of blubber, fat, liver, and kidney

Materials used to remove, handle, transport, and store specimens are made of titanium and Teflon. These materials don’t introduce anything that might be confused with contaminants already in the sample

We collect two samples from each animal of each type of specimen. Sample A is for long-term archival. Sample B is available for immediate analysis if necessary.

Both samples A and B are frozen in the field with liquid nitrogen and transported frozen to the NMMTB.

They are kept in liquid nitrogen freezers at –184 °F.

We place the frozen sample in a teflon piston device. It shatters the sample into a powder.

We then place the sample in disk mill that turns the sample into the consistency of face powder.

We divide the 150 gram sample into small samples and put back in the freezer

The NMMTB has a tissue access policy. Above is how we expect tissues will be used.

There are approximately 1,500 marine mammal tissue specimens archived in the NMMTB. There are samples for whales, seals, sea lions, walrus, polar bears, and sea otters.

Uses of the tissue archive include: Preparing samples containing

precisely known levels of organic contaminants and heavy metals for quality assurance programs.

Establishing nation-wide baseline levels of contaminants

Determining geographic patterns of contaminants

John Kucklick describes how they prepare samples to test for persistent organic pollutants.

They first separate the contaminants from the fats in tissues like whale blubber

This is a gas chromatograph with electron capture detector. It uses a 200 foot glass column with a coating that separates the contaminants for measurement by the electron capture detector.

It takes 3 weeks to process and analyze 15 samples. It takes a month or more for NIST to approve the report for release.

A Mass Spectrometer provides more information than an electron capture detector. It can measure toxaphene separately from PCBs.

The Mass Spec costs about $90,000 compared to $40,000 for the Electron Capture Detector

There are metals all around, so you have to take special care to have pure water and work under a hood

Steven Christopher measures heavy metals

Steven prepares the heavy metal samples by decomposing all the solids in a microwave. He has to adjust the time and power of the microwave to get good samples.

Once the heavy metal samples are prepared, we can measure them in this Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICPMS).

The machine costs about $200,000

AAACKNOWLEDGMENTSCKNOWLEDGMENTSCKNOWLEDGMENTS

The following individuals are recognized for their efforts in thedevelopment and support of the NMMTB: Dr. Nancy Foster and TedLillestolen of NOAA National Ocean Service, Dr. Teresa K. Rowles ofNOAA National Marine Fisheries Service, Lyman K. Thorsteinson andGeoff W. York of the U.S. Geological Survey, and Dr. ClevelandCowles of the Minerals Management Service.

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