PT15 Contaminated Harbour and River Sediment
Exhibit Hall
8:00 AM - Tuesday
(PT254) Organic and inorganic contaminants in sediments from the lower Missouri River.
Echols, K1, Orazio, C1, Brumbaugh, W1, May, T1, Poulton, B1, Peterman, P1, 1 USGS, Columbia Environmental Research Center, Columbia, MO, USA
ABSTRACT- A study was conducted to determine the levels and spatial distribution of persistent organic pollutants and toxic metals in sediments of the Lower Missouri River. From Omaha, Nebraska to Jefferson City, Missouri sediments from nineteen sites along the river were collected. This stretch of the river has point and non-point sources of chemical contamination from industrial, urban and agricultural activities. The following chemical contaminants were measured in these sediments: polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); thirty organochlorine pesticides including chlordanes, DDTs and hexachlorocyclohexanes; several current-use pesticides, namely trifluralin, diazinon, chlorpyrifos, and permethrin; polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); and polybrominated diphenyl ethers. Also determined were toxic metals including copper, nickel, zinc, cadmium, and lead. Levels of the organochlorine pesticides were typically below 1 ppb, although one site within the Kansas City metro area at the confluence of the Blue River contained up to 20 ppb total chlordane and higher levels of other chlorinated pesticides (8.1 ppb p,p′-DDE, 1.5 ppb lindane, 4.8 ppb dieldrin, 3 ppb endrin). Levels of the current use pesticides, chlorpyrifos and permethrin, ranged from less than 1 ppb up to 5.5 and 44 ppb, respectively. Levels of PCBs ranged from detection limit (11 ppb) to 250 ppb (dry weight basis). The Blue River site had the highest organochlorine contaminant levels among the nineteen sites with the exception of the PCBs (Blue River site, 100ppb; Sibley site 250 ppb). PAHs were also highest at the Blue River site. Levels of the metals did not vary significantly among sites. However, the Blue River site had elevated levels of zinc (104 ppb), cadmium (0.7 ppb) and lead (34 ppb) as compared to the other sites. Levels of acid-volatile sulfide indicated that there is low potential for metal toxicity along this reach of the Missouri River.
Key words: sediments, Missouri River, POPs, metals