Organochlorine residues in starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) from the continental United States 1974-1985: National Contaminant Biomonitoring Program

The National Contaminant Biomonitoring Program (NCBP), which was developed and maintained by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), monitored concentrations of environmental contaminants in fish and wildlife over a period of about 20 years. Beginning in the 1960s as a component of the multi-agency National Pesticide Monitoring Program (NPMP) and continuing through the mid-1980s, fish and wildlife were periodically collected from a national network of stations for analysis of pesticides, PCBs, and other contaminants. The NPMP/NCBP database of contaminant concentrations is the most extensive of its kind, unique in its breadth and depth with respect to environmental contaminant concentrations. The data and information from the NCBP are sought often by a national and international clientele; especially frequent users are biologists in FWS field offices and USGS Water Science Centers. The database derived from the NCBP is unique in its ability to characterize the exposure of free-ranging organisms, including threatened and endangered species, to toxic contaminants.