Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/11681/21579
Title: Preliminary assessment of bioaccumulation of metals and organic contaminants at the Times Beach Confined Disposal Site, Buffalo, N.Y.
Authors: Marquenie, Johannes M.
Simmers, John W.
Kay, Stratford H.
Keywords: Dredging spoil--New York (State)--Buffalo--Environmental aspects
Biological assay
Times Beach Confined Disposal Site (Buffalo, N.Y.)--Environmental aspects
Publisher: Environmental Laboratory (U.S.)
Series/Report no.: Miscellaneous Paper;EL-87-6
Abstract: Abstract: A terrestrial animal bioassay procedure was applied to dredged material at the Times Beach confined disposal site, Buffalo, New York, 7 years after disposal was terminated. This procedure was applied both in the field and in the growth chamber. At the same time, native worms were collected from Times Beach and a nearby terrestrial reference area. Native fishes were collected from the small lake within Times Beach and from an aquatic reference area. Worm and fish tissues and the dredged material to which the worms were exposed were analyzed for heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), hexachlorobenzene, and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Bioavailability of the contaminants differed considerably throughout the site. In the small lake (approximately 50 percent of the site), mercury and PCB concentrations although high were within the range of concentrations allowed in fish taken by local fisheries for human consumption. In the wetland (approximately 25 percent of the site), some uptake of all contaminants occurred in the experimental worms. No native earthworms or other quantitative amounts of soil-dwelling invertebrates were found in this area, however. Thus, this problem is only a potential one that is expected to diminish in time with further consolidation. In the wooded upland (the remaining 25 percent of the site), the major potential problems are the rather high concentrations of cadmium that were encountered in the native earthworms and the occurrence of moderate levels of PCBs and PAHs. The experimental work with the worms suggested that the woodland is still in a successional stage. It is expected that bioavailability of most heavy metals, PCBs, and some PAH components will decrease in time. Bioavailability of cadmium, however, seems to increase with time through enrichment of the forest floor by leaf fall. From an environmental point of view for the site as a whole, each habitat within the site is regarded as too small to contain a considerable wildlife population with lifetime exposure. Animals feeding throughout the site will be exposed to a strongly divided risk due to the large differences in contaminant bioavailability within the different habitats. Local fisheries for human consumption are advised to be restricted.
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/11681/21579
Appears in Collections:Miscellaneous Paper

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
MP EL-87-6.pdf12.92 MBAdobe PDFThumbnail
View/Open