Codeployment of Passive Samplers and Mussels Reveals Major Source of Ongoing PCB Inputs to the Anacostia River in Washington, DC

Thumbnail Image

Files

acs.est.2c06646.pdf (6.86 MB)
es2c06646_si_001.pdf (1.12 MB)

Links to Files

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.2c06646

Permanent Link

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c06646
 http://hdl.handle.net/11603/26791

Collections

UMBC Chemical, Biochemical & Environmental Engineering Department
UMBC Faculty Collection
UMBC Staff Collection

Author/Creator

Author/Creator ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2112-1728

Date

2023-01-09

Type of Work

journal articles
Text

Department

Program

Citation of Original Publication

".Nathalie J. Lombard, Mandar Bokare, Rachel Harrison, Lance Yonkos, Alfred Pinkney, Dev Murali, and Upal Ghosh. Codeployment of Passive Samplers and Mussels Reveals Major Source of Ongoing PCB Inputs to the Anacostia River in Washington, DC. Environmental Science & Technology 2023 57 (3), 1320-1331 DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c06646"

Rights

This work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
Public Domain Mark 1.0

Subjects

Abstract

Remedial investigations of sites contaminated with legacy pollutants like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have traditionally focused on mapping sediment contamination to develop a site conceptual model and select remedy options. Ignoring dissolved concentrations that drive transport and bioaccumulation often leads to an incomplete assessment of ongoing inputs to the water column and overestimation of potential effectiveness of sediment remediation. Here, we demonstrate the utility of codeployment of passive equilibrium samplers and freshwater mussels as dual lines of evidence to identify ongoing sources of PCBs from eight main tributaries of the Anacostia River in Washington, DC, that has been historically polluted from industrial and other human activities. The freely dissolved PCB concentrations measured using passive samplers tracked well with the accumulation in mussels and allowed predictions of biouptake within a factor of 2 for total PCBs and a factor of 4 for most congeners. One tributary was identified as the primary source of PCBs to the water column and became a focus of additional ongoing investigations. Codeployment of passive samplers and mussels provides strong lines of evidence to refine site conceptual models and identify ongoing sources critical to control to achieve river water quality standards and reduce bioaccumulation in the aquatic food web.