Comparative study of contaminant levels in Long Island Sound

Journal Article · Sun Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1991 · Estuaries; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2307/1351663· OSTI ID:5823411

Robertson, A; Gottholm, B W; Turgeon, D D; Wolfe, D A ^[1]

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1. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Rockville, MD (United States)

This paper uses results from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Status and Trends Program (NS and T) to place the environmental quality of Long Island Sound in a broader perspective. It compares levels of contaminants in blue mussels from ten Long Island Sound sites and in sediments from seven Long Island Sound sites with concentrations in the same media at 87 and 221 other sites, respectively, where comparable samples were obtained. In sediments, the levels of both trace metals and organic contaminants tend to be relatively high for Long Island sites. This is especially true for five of the twelve metals (silver, cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc) and for five of six categories of organic contaminants (total chlordane, low molecular weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), high molecular weight PAHs, total polychlorinated biphenyls, and total dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes). In mussels, the organic contaminant categories exhibit relatively high levels, but this is not true for most of the metals. In fact, four of the metals-arsenic, mercury, selenium, and zinc - show evidence of relatively low levels in mussels from Long Island Sound compared to other NS and T locations.

• OSTI ID: 5823411
• Journal Information: Estuaries; (United States), Vol. 14:3; ISSN 0160-8347
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
LONG ISLAND SOUND
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
ARSENIC
CADMIUM
CHLORINATED ALIPHATIC HYDROCARBONS
CHLORINATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
CONTAMINATION
COPPER
LEAD
MERCURY
MUSSELS
PESTICIDES
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
SEDIMENTS
SELENIUM
SILVER
US NOAA
WATER QUALITY
ZINC
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
AROMATICS
ATLANTIC OCEAN
ELEMENTS
ESTUARIES
HALOGENATED ALIPHATIC HYDROCARBONS
HALOGENATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
HYDROCARBONS
INVERTEBRATES
METALS
MOLLUSCS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
SEAS
SEMIMETALS
SURFACE WATERS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
US ORGANIZATIONS
540320* - Environment
Aquatic- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
290300 - Energy Planning & Policy- Environment
Health
& Safety