Document Type
Report
Department/Program
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Publication Date
7-31-1981
Abstract
This report contains three parts. In Part I, the methodology to extract and analyze sediment and oyster tissue samples from the Chesapeake Bay is described in detail. Remaining problems are clearly identified. Part II contains the results and their discussion. Part III contains a number of appendices with detailed data. For those readers interested in still more detail, the complete bank of processed data is on computer tapes at this institute and at the Environmental Protection Agency-Chesapeake Bay Program office at Annapolis, Maryland. Also included in Part III we give the results of volatile halogenated organic compounds determined in water collected near the outfalls of several chlorine using facilities as well as from river mouths. The distribution of the total and a few specific organic compounds within the Bay is presented by histograms. Mass spectrometric analyses clearly reveal the fact that one specific class of organic compounds, hydrocarbons, are the most prominent pollutants in the Bay. The application of two different search routines, one concentrating on compounds at levels >50 ppb and the other on temporal changes, allows a quick determination of areas where problems may exist and where additional research may be indicated. Two unusual sediment samples collected during the fall 1979 cruise are discussed separately: Sample 2-19-S which clearly indicates a recent dumping of DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls, and Sample 2-27-S which contained very high concentrations of unsubstituted polynuclear aromatics.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.25773/4da6-x649
Keywords
Organic water pollutants -- Chesapeake Bay (Md. and Va.) Estuarine sediments -- Chesapeake Bay (Md. and Va.)
Funding
Final report to the Environmental Protection Agency, year 1 and 2, grant no. R 80601201
Recommended Citation
Bieri, R. H., DuFur, P. O., Huggett, R. J., MacIntyre, W., Shou, P., Smith, C. L., & Su, C. W. (1981) Organic compounds in surface sediments and oyster tissues from the Chesapeake Bay. Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William & Mary. https://doi.org/10.25773/4da6-x649
Appendices I-VIII
Included in
Aquaculture and Fisheries Commons, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment Commons, Sedimentology Commons
