Selected chemical contaminants in surface sediments of Commencement Bay and the tacoma Waterways, Washington, USA

Abstract Eight metals, 21 organic priority pollutants, and 11 other contaminants and contaminant-related sediment characteristics were measured in surface sediments (upper 2 cm) at 21 locations in Commencement Bay and the Tacoma Waterways, Washington. Summary statistics were calculated and statistical approaches (analysis of variance, multiple comparisons tests, cluster analysis and principal component analysis) were applied to subsets of the data to classify sediment contamination. Overall sediment contamination was highest in the Sitcum, City and Hylebos Waterways, intermediate in Commencement Bay, at the entrances to the Tacoma Waterways and in the outer reaches of the Blair and Hylebos Waterways, and lowest at the Blair Waterway turning basin, the mouth of the Puyallup River and at a reference site near Browns Point. High concentrations of some contaminants appeared to be related to proximity to sources of contaminants. Depositional vectors, and chemical adsorption processes may also influence the spatial distribution of sediment contamination in the study area. Results of simple and partial correlation analyses indicate that arsenic, iron and manganese may be more closely associated with the clay fraction, while cadmium, copper and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons may be more closely associated with the total organic carbon content of sediments. We were unable to discriminate statistically between the affinity of chromium, lead, zinc and phthalates with the % clay or the total organic carbon content of sediments.

[1]  J. Leckie,et al.  Trace-metal adsorption characteristics of estuarine particulate matter: evaluation of contributions of iron/manganese oxide and organic surface coatings , 1982 .

[2]  Donald F. Boesch,et al.  Application of numerical classification in ecological investigations of water pollution , 1977 .

[3]  D. C. Malins,et al.  Chemical contaminants and biological abnormalities in central and southern Puget Sound , 1980 .

[4]  K. H. Abel,et al.  Organic pollutants in waterways adjacent to Commencement Bay (Puget Sound) , 1981 .

[5]  Howard B. Lee,et al.  A first course in factor analysis , 1973 .

[6]  R. Dexter.  A summary of knowledge of Puget Sound related to chemical contaminants , 1981 .

[7]  G. N. Lance,et al.  A General Theory of Classificatory Sorting Strategies: 1. Hierarchical Systems , 1967, Comput. J..

[8]  D. W. Schults,et al.  Sediment Toxicity, Contamination, and Macrobenthic Communities Near a Large Sewage Outfall , 1985 .

[9]  E. Atlas,et al.  Phthalate ester plasticizers: a new class of marine pollutant. , 1978, Science.

[10]  J. Sericano,et al.  Cu, Cd and Zn in Blanca Bay surface sediments, Argentina , 1982 .

[11]  Shizuo Suzuki,et al.  Adsorption and desorption of heavy metals in bottom mud of urban rivers , 1982 .

[12]  H. E. Murray,et al.  Phthalic acid esters, total DDTs, and polychlorinated biphenyls in marine samples from Galveston Bay, Texas , 1981, Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology.

[13]  A. Dadone,et al.  Trace metals in sediments from the Ligurian Coast, Italy , 1982 .

[14]  Robert L. Folk,et al.  Petrology of Sedimentary Rocks , 1974 .

[15]  A. Johnson,et al.  The distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the surficial sediments of Penobscot Bay (Maine, USA) in relation to possible sources and to other sites worldwide , 1985 .

[16]  A. Mcintyre,et al.  Methods for the study of marine benthos. IBP Handbook No.16 , 1971 .

[17]  B. Tabachnick,et al.  Using Multivariate Statistics , 1983 .

[18]  D. Schnitker,et al.  The direct titration of water-soluble sulfide in estuarine muds of Montsweag Bay, Maine , 1974 .

[19]  R. Ozretich,et al.  Determination of selected neutral priority organic pollutants in marine sediment, tissue, and reference materials utilizing bonded-phase sorbents , 1986 .

[20]  P. Stoffers,et al.  Copper and other heavy metal contamination in sediments from New Bedford Harbor, Massachusetts: a preliminary note , 1977 .

[21]  Ronald A. Hites,et al.  The global distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in recent sediments , 1978 .

[22]  C. Grant,et al.  A laboratory investigation of heavy metal adsorption on marine dredge spoils , 1981, Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology.

[23]  S. Karickhoff,et al.  SORPTION OF HYDROPHOBIC POLLUTANTS ON NATURAL SEDIMENTS , 1979 .

[24]  R. Swartz,et al.  Sediment toxicity and the distribution of amphipods in Commencement bay, Washington, USA , 1982 .

[25]  A. E. Greenberg,et al.  Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater : supplement to the sixteenth edition , 1988 .

[26]  M. Bothner,et al.  Geochemistries of arsenic, antimony, mercury, and related elements in sediments of Puget Sound , 1975 .