National Status and Trends: Bioeffects Program - Magnitude and Extent of Sediment Toxicity in the Hudson-Raritan Estuary

A survey of the toxicity of sediments was performed by NOAA's National Status and Trends (NSandT) Program throughout the Hudson-Raritan Estuary. The objectives of the survey were to determine the spatial patterns of toxicity, the spatial scales (magnitude) of toxicity, the severity (frequency) of toxicity, and the relationships among measures of toxicity and chemical substances in the sediments. This survey was conducted as a part of a nationwide program supported by NOAA's Coastal Ocean Program and the NSandT Program, in which the biological effects of toxicants are determined in selected estuaries and bays. The survey was conducted in two phases: 117 samples were collected throughout the entire estuary during 1991 (Phase 1) and an additional 57 samples were collected in Newark Bay and vicinity during 1993 (Phase 2). Relatively sensitive toxicity tests were performed under controlled laboratory conditions with portions of each sample. During Phase 1, three independent tests were performed: (1) a 10-day, acute survival test of solid-phase sediments with the amphipod Ampelisca abdita; (2) a 48-hour liquid phase test of elutriates with the embryos of the bivalve Mulinia lateralis in which both percent survival and normal embryological development were recorded; and (3) a 15-minute microbial bioluminescence test (Microtoxtm) of organic solvent extracts. Only the amphipod tests were performed on the samples collected during Phase 2. Chemical analyses of selected samples were performed and the concentrations of trace elements, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), chlorinated pesticides and other hydrocarbons were reported. Also, during Phase 2 the concentrations of numerous chlorinated dioxins and furans were determined.

Specific objectives of the study were to: (1) Determine the presence and severity of toxic responses; (2) Estimate the spatial extent of toxicity; (3) Identify spatial patterns of toxicity in each system; (4) Characterize the relationships between toxicity and the concentrations of potential toxicants in the sediments. The dataset objective is to report information about chemical residues in sediment and sediment toxicity characteristics of the system.

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Magnitude and Extent of Sediment Toxicity in the Hudson-Raritan Estuary. NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS ORCA 88. August 1995. Silver Spring, Maryland.

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS Ed Long (retired), NOAA Ocean Service, National Status and Trends Program SAMPLE COLLECTION INVESTIGATORS Ed Long (retired), NOAA Ocean Service, National Status and Trends Program SAMPLE PROCESSING FACILITIES - Organic and inorganic chemicals in sediment: (1) Phase 1 (1991) - Battelle Ocean Sciences, Duxbury, Massachusetts (2) Phase 2 (1993) - USGS, Columbia Environmental Research Center, Columbia, Missouri (formally known as the Midwest Science Center) SAMPLE PROCESSING FACILITIES - Toxicity assays:(1) Microtox Assay - Edmundo Casillas, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service;(2) Amphipod Survival Assay - Science Applications International Corporation, Narragansett, RI;(3) Amphipod Survival Assay - Aqua Survey, Inc.;(4) Bivalve larvae survival and development (Mulinia lateralis) - Edmundo Casillas, NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Peter Landrum (NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory) conducted toxicity tests with Diporeia spp. Edmundo Casillas (NMFS) provided data from tests of growth impairment and microbial bioluminescence.

The dataset is composed of two relational files listed below. The "SITES" data file reports the location coordinates. The geographical information provided for a sampling site (the estuary stratum and site) is useful when interpreting the results of other data files. The "INDICATOR" data file reports parameter results for chemical and toxicity assays. For a description of the parameters see report http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/about/coast/nsandt/download.asp

NOAA - National Status and Trends Program

These data were prepared by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, make any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed in this report, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference therein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. Any views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. Although all data have been used by NOAA, no warranty, expressed or implied, is made by NOAA as to the accuracy of the data and/or related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by NOAA in the use of these data or related materials.

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NOAA requests that all individuals who download NOAA data acknowledge the source of these data in any reports, papers, or presentations. If you publish these data, please include a statement similar to: "Some or all of the data described in this article were produced by the NOAA's Ocean Service through its National Status and Trends Program (NSandT)"

MEASUREMENT QUALITY OBJECTIVESSite location - The center of each site was located with LORAN-C and Global Positioning System units. At each site, a buoy was dropped at the coordinates provided by NOAA. Then, the vessel was moved approximately 100 m. away from the buoy for each of the three stations sampled at the site. The location of each station was determined with Loran and GPS, along with radar ranges and hand-held compass bearings. Generally the stations at each site were equidistant from the site center and about 250 m. apart from each other. In most cases the stations formed a triangle around the site center, but, where conditions dictated otherwise, the stations were arranged in a straight line. Organic and Inorganic Contaminants - The suite of organic and inorganic chemicals measured in the sediment samples were those routinely measured by the NSandT Program, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), DDT and its metabolites, chlorinated pesticides other than DDT, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and 16 trace and heavy metals (Robertson et al. 1993). Procedures for analysis of organic chemicals are outlined in MacLeod et al. (1985), Battelle Ocean Sciences (1991), and Lauenstein and Cantillo (1993) available online at: http://www.ccma.nos.noaa.gov/publications/tm71v1.pdf http://www.ccma.nos.noaa.gov/publications/tm71v2.pdf http://www.ccma.nos.noaa.gov/publications/tm71v3.pdf http://www.ccma.nos.noaa.gov/publications/tm71v4.pdf

Data are believed to be complete

All chemical contaminant values have been rounded to three significant digits. To accommodate the wide range of values, all concentration values have been formatted to the thousandth unit (0.001). The method detection limits (MDLs) within compound classes are listed in appendix B of the report http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/about/coast/nsandt/download.asp