Project Leader, NIST-Charleston, National Institute of Standards & Technology
Ph.D., Texas A&M University
paul.becker@noaa.gov
Fate and effects of anthropogenic contaminants. We are particularly interested in contaminants as related to Arctic ecosystems. This includes the role of contaminants in marine vertebrate health (i.e., marine mammals and seabirds). Our laboratory performs chemical analyses using chromatography, mass spectrometry, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. We also maintain a cryogenic environmental specimen bank (ESB) for marine research. Our goal is to expand the application of ESB to long-term ecosystem research and monitoring and to promote ESB as an important component of analytical quality assurance procedures.
Publications:
O’Hara, T.M., P.R. Becker. 2002.
Persistent Organic Contaminants in Arctic Marine Mammals. In: Toxicology
of Marine Mammals. Chapter 8, pages 168 - 205. Taylor & Francis, London.
(In press)
Kucklick, J.R., W.D.J. Struntz, P.R. Becker, G.W. York, T.M. O’Hara,
J.E. Bohonowych. 2002. Persistent organochlorine pollutants in ringed
seals and polar bears collected from Northern Alaska. Sci. Total
Environ. 287:45-59.
Christopher, S.J., S.S. Vander Pol, R.S. Pugh, R.D. Day, P.R. Becker.
2002. Determination of mercury in the eggs of common murres (Uria aalge)
for the seabird tissue archival and monitoring project. J. Anal. At.
Spectrom. 17:780-785.
Becker, P.R., M.M. Krahn, E.A. Mackey, R. Demiralp, M.M. Schantz, M.
Epstein, M.K. Donais, B. Porter, D.C.G. Muir, S.A. Wise. 2000.
Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), chlorinated
pesticides, and heavy metals and other elements in tissues of beluga
whales, Delphinapterus leucas, from Cook Inlet, Alaska. Mar. Fish. Rev.
62(3):81-98