PRESENCE AND DISTRIBUTION OF CHLORINATED ORGANIC COMPOUNDS IN STREAMBED SEDIMENTS, NEW JERSEY¹

Abstract

: Concentrations of 18 hydrophobic chlorinated organic compounds in streambed sediments from 100 sites throughout New Jersey were examined to determine (1) which compounds were detected most frequently, (2) whether detection frequencies differed among selected drainage basins, and (3) whether concentrations differed significantly among selected drainage basins. Twelve drainage basins across New Jersey that contain a range of land‐use patterns and population densities were selected to represent various types and degrees of development. To ensure an adequate number of samples for statistical comparison among drainage basins, the 12 selected basins were consolidated into seven drainage areas on the basis of similarities in land‐use patterns and population densities. Additionally, data for three classes of chlorinated organic compounds in streambed sediments from 255 sites throughout New Jersey were examined to determine whether the presence of these compounds in streambed sediments is related to the type and degree of development within the drainage area of each sampling site. Chlorinated organic compounds detected most frequently within the seven representative drainage areas were DDT, DDE, DDD, chlordane, dieldrin, and PCBs. DDT, DDE, and DDD, which were the most widely distributed organic compounds, were detected in about 60 to 100 percent of the samples from all drainage areas but one (where the detection rate for these compounds was about 20 to 40 percent). Chiordane and dieldrin were detected in about 80 to 100 percent of samples from highly urbanized and populated drainage areas; detection frequencies for these compounds tended to be smaller in less developed and populated areas. PCBs were detected in about 40 to 85 percent of samples from all drainage areas; detection frequencies were highest in the most heavily developed and populated areas. Analysis of variance on rank‐transformed organic compound concentrations normalized to sediment organic carbon content was used to evaluate differences in concentrations among the seven representative drainage areas. Chlordane and PCBs were the chlorinated organic compounds with the most highly elevated concentrations in streambed sediments across the State. Median normalized concentrations of all six of the most frequently detected chlorinated organic compounds were highest in the most heavily urbanized and populated drainage area and lowest in the less populated, predominantly agricultural or forested areas. Concentrations of DDT and DDE, however, did not differ significantly among most of the drainage areas. Concentrations of DDD, chlordane, dieldrin, and PCBs differed significantly among drainage areas. The highest median normalized concentrations were found in samples from the most heavily urbanized and populated areas, and the lowest were in samples from the least developed, most heavily forested area. Logistic regression was used to examine relations between the presence of hydrophobic chlorinated organic compounds in streambed sediments at specified con...

RELATION OF MACROINVERTEBRATE COMMUNITY IMPAIRMENT TO CATCHMENT CHARACTERISTICS IN NEW JERSEY STREAMS1

“…Table 3; x2 = chi-squared statistic; C = rank correlation of predicted probabilities and observed responses; AIC = Akaike Information Criterion; p-values for individual variables are based on Wald's chi-squared statistic, which is the square of the parameter estimate divided by its standard error estimate with one degree of freedom.) Equation A corresponding logistic-regression analysis of organic contaminants in bed sediments in New Jersey showed the presence of organic contaminants to be strongly related to basin population and residential land use (Stackelberg, 1997). Similarly, O'Brien (1997) found that the presence of certain trace elements was related to basin population, agricultural land use, and underlying geology.…”

“…Because the factors were distance-weighted, sources of contamination near sampling sites were distinguished from those further upstream (Stackelberg, 1997). For example, if the applied decay factor is high (-1), sources near a sampling site are most important and distant sources contribute little to contamination at a sampling site, whereas low decay factors (0) represent sources in the entire basin above a given sampling site, indicating that distant and nearby sources may be equally important contributors of a contaminant (O'Brien, 1997;Stackelberg, 1997). Development and application of this spatial model is discussed further in White et al (1992) and Smith et al (1993).…”

“…Logistic-regression analysis is reviewed extensively in Walker and Duncan (1967), Harrell et al (1980), andHosmer andLemeshow (1989). Applications to water quality and bed sediment are presented in Eckhardt and Stackelberg (1995), Helsel and Hirsch (1992), O'Brien (1997), and Stackelberg (1997).…”

“…This paper addresses the first of these evaluations for the Long Island-New Jersey study unit. Two complementary studies were also conducted in which the presence and distribution of trace elements (O'Brien, 1997) and chlorinated organic compounds (Stackelberg, 1997) in bed sediments were evaluated.…”

Modelling and experimental study of coupled exchange ofp,p′-DDE and colloids in a flume simulated stream-streambed system

“…DDE has been considered as a pollutant of concern in Environmental Protection Agency's Great Waters Program (United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), 2000; Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), 2002; Barnhoorn et al, 2009). Because of its strong adsorption to soil/sediment, DDE has become one of the most widely distributed compounds found in streambed sediments (Reich et al, 1986;Stackelberg, 1997;Barnhoorn et al, 2009). DDE exposure has been known to cause harmful reproductive effects in various species and is suspected to cause damage to the nervous system as well as adverse effects on human reproduction (Peakall, 1996;ATSDR, 2002).…”