Source apportionment of polychlorinated biphenyls in the New York/New Jersey Harbor.

The New York/New Jersey Harbor (also known as the Hudson River Estuary) is heavily contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) arising in part from inputs from the Upper Hudson River, which is a Superfund site containing historical PCB contamination, and also due to inputs from the New York City metropolitan area. The Contamination Assessment and Reduction Project (CARP) measured PCBs and other contaminants in ambient water samples collected throughout the Harbor region during 1998-2001. In order to investigate the sources of PCBs to the NY/NJ Harbor, this data base of PCB concentrations was analyzed using Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF). This analysis resolved seven factors that are thought to be associated with sources such as the Upper Hudson River, storm water runoff, combined sewer overflows (CSOs), and wastewater effluents. The PMF model also produced a factor that appears to be related to sites contaminated with Aroclor 1260. To the extent that the NY/NJ Harbor is typical of urbanized estuaries throughout the United States, these results suggest that storm water runoff is probably a significant source of PCBs to surface waters in urban areas.

[1]  J F Brown,et al.  Determination of PCB Metabolic, Excretion, and Accumulation Rates for Use as Indicators of Biological Response and Relative Risk. , 1994, Environmental science & technology.

[2]  Glenn W Johnson,et al.  Long-term recovery of PCB-contaminated sediments at the Lake Hartwell superfund site: PCB dechlorination. 1. End-member characterization. , 2005, Environmental science & technology.

[3]  J. M. Principe,et al.  Biotransformations of Aroclor 1242 in Hudson River test tube microcosms , 1994, Applied and environmental microbiology.

[4]  C. W. Schmidt,et al.  Combined sewer overflows (CSOs) as sources of sediment contamination in the lower Passaic River, New Jersey. II. Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, polychlorinated dibenzofurans, and polychlorinated biphenyls , 1997 .

[5]  D. R. Rushneck,et al.  Concentrations of dioxin-like PCB congeners in unweathered Aroclors by HRGC/HRMS using EPA Method 1668A. , 2004, Chemosphere.

[6]  G. Johnson,et al.  Long-term recovery of PCB-contaminated sediments at the Lake Hartwell superfund site: PCB dechlorination. 2. Rates and extent. , 2005, Environmental science & technology.

[7]  Peter Schmid,et al.  Joint sealants: an overlooked diffuse source of polychlorinated biphenyls in buildings. , 2005, Environmental science & technology.

[8]  R. Herrick,et al.  Soil Contamination from PCB-Containing Buildings , 2006, Environmental health perspectives.

[9]  K. Farley,et al.  An Integrated Model of Organic Chemical Fate and Bioaccumulation in the Hudson River Estuary , 1999 .

[10]  I. Gibson.  Statistics and Data Analysis in Geology , 1976, Mineralogical Magazine.

[11]  B. Fowler,et al.  Identification of a novel PCB source through analysis of 209 PCB congeners by US EPA modified method 1668. , 2002, Chemosphere.

[12]  D. Abramowicz,et al.  Factors influencing the rate of polychlorinated biphenyls dechlorination in Hudson River sediments , 1993 .

[13]  Lisa A. Rodenburg,et al.  Source identification of atmospheric PCBs in Philadelphia/Camden using positive matrix factorization followed by the potential source contribution function , 2007 .

[14]  Lisa A. Rodenburg,et al.  Source apportionment of polychlorinated biphenyls in the tidal Delaware River. , 2008, Environmental science & technology.

[15]  R. Ehrlich,et al.  Resolving Polychlorinated Biphenyl Source Fingerprints in Suspended Particulate Matter of San Francisco Bay , 2000 .

[16]  A. Sarofim,et al.  Rates and Routes of Transport of PCBs in the Environment , 1972, Environmental health perspectives.

[17]  J. Meeker,et al.  An Unrecognized Source of PCB Contamination in Schools and Other Buildings , 2004, Environmental health perspectives.

[18]  A. T. Miesch.  Q-mode factor analysis of geochemical and petrologic data matrices with constant row-sums , 1976 .

[19]  P. Paatero,et al.  Positive matrix factorization: A non-negative factor model with optimal utilization of error estimates of data values† , 1994 .

[20]  Gregory J. Cavallo,et al.  Evidence for widespread dechlorination of polychlorinated biphenyls in groundwater, landfills, and wastewater collection systems. , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[21]  Mitchell D. Erickson,et al.  Analytical Chemistry of PCBs , 1986 .

[22]  J. Butcher,et al.  PCB loading from sediment in the Hudson River: congener signature analysis of pathways. , 2004, Environmental science & technology.

[23]  Gregory J. Cavallo,et al.  Evidence for unique and ubiquitous environmental sources of 3,3'-dichlorobiphenyl (PCB 11). , 2010, Environmental science & technology.

[24]  J. Ashley,et al.  PCB congener distributions in muscle, liver and gonad of Fundulus heteroclitus from the lower Hudson River Estuary and Newark Bay. , 2003, Chemosphere.

[25]  E. Weiner.  National Recommended Water Quality Criteria , 2000 .

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