Historical trends in the accumulation of chemicals in Puget Sound. National status and trends program for marine environmental quality: Technical memo

Technical Report · Mon Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1997

OSTI ID:305706

Lefkovitz, L F; Cullinan, V I; Crecelius, E A

The purpose of the study is to: (1) continue monitoring historical trends in the concentration of contaminants in Puget Sound sediments, and (2) quantify recent trends in the recovery of contaminated sediments. Results from this study can be compared with those obtained in the 1982 study to determine whether sediment quality is still improving and to estimate the rate of recovery. A statistically significant reduction in sediment contamination over the past 20 years would provide empirical evidence that environmental regulation has had a positive impact on the water quality in Puget Sound. Chemical trends were evaluated from six age-dated sediment cores collected from the main basin of Puget Sound. Chemical analyses included metals, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), PCBs and chlorinated pesticides, nutrients (total nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P)), butyl tins, and total organic carbon (TOC). Sedimentation (cm/yr) and deposition rates (g/sq cm/yr) were estimated using a steady-state Pb-210 dating technique.

• Research Organization: National Ocean Service, Office of Ocean Resources Conservation and Assessment, Silver Spring, MD (United States); Battelle/Marine Sciences Lab., Sequim, WA (United States)
• OSTI ID: 305706
• Report Number(s): PB--99-119307/XAB; NOAA-TM-NOS-ORCA--111
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
HISTORICAL ASPECTS
ISOTOPE DATING
METALS
PESTICIDES
POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
PUGET SOUND
SEDIMENTS
WATER QUALITY