Temporal trends of contamination of Puget Sound

Conference · Mon Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1984

OSTI ID:5683870

Crecelius, E A; Bloom, N

Trends in contaminant loading to the central basin of Puget Sound have been inferred from the chemical composition of age-dated sediment cores. During the last hundred years there have been dramatic changes in the quantity of specific heavy metals and organic compounds entering Puget Sound. The sedimentary history of several chemicals, including Pb, Hg, Ag, Cu, As and hydrocarbons, shows increased concentrations paralleling the urbanization of the Seattle-Tacoma area. Contaminant concentrations began to increase above background in the late 1800s and reached maximum concentrations usually in sediments deposited in 1945 to 1965. Synthetic organics such as PCB, DDT and CBD first appear in sediments deposited in the 1930s or later and reached a maximum in the 1960s. The presence of the subsurface maximum concentrations in the fine-grain deepwater sediments indicates the pollution control strategies have significantly improved the sediment quality of central Puget Sound.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 5683870
• Report Number(s): PNL-SA-12297; CONF-8409222-2; ON: DE86011608
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

520200* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ARSENIC
COPPER
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ELEMENTS
ENVIRONMENT
HYDROCARBONS
LEAD
MERCURY
METALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PACIFIC OCEAN
POLLUTION
PUGET SOUND
SEAS
SEDIMENTS
SEMIMETALS
SILVER
SURFACE WATERS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
WATER POLLUTION