Teratogenic effects and monetary cost of selenium poisoning of fish in Lake Sutton, North Carolina

• Selenium pollution from coal ash wastewater exceeded toxic thresholds for fish.
• A large proportion of fish (28.9 percent) exhibited deformity of the spine and/or head.
• Teratogenic Deformity Index values indicated negative impacts on the fishery.
• The value of fishery losses was calculated at over $US 8.6 million annually.
• Cumulative losses exceeded $US 217 million, with damage dating back to 1987.

Selenium pollution from coal ash wastewater was investigated in Lake Sutton, NC. This lake has been continuously used as a cooling pond for a coal-fired power plant since 1972. Historic and recent levels of contamination in fish tissues (14–105 µg Se/g dry weight in liver, 24–127 in eggs, 4–23 in muscle, 7–38 in whole-body) exceeded toxic thresholds and teratogenic effects were observed in fish collected in 2013. A high proportion (28.9 percent) of juvenile Lepomis spp. exhibited spinal and craniofacial malformations that were consistent with selenium poisoning. Teratogenic Deformity Index values indicated population-level impacts on the fishery. The partially monetized cost of resultant fishery losses was calculated at over $US 8.6 million annually, and over $US 217 million for the entire period of damage, which dates back to 1987 when chemical and biological monitoring began.