Abstract: "Survey of sediment toxicity was carried out by NOAA's National Status and Trends Program in the coastal bays that surround Long Island Sound in New York and Connecticut. Samples were talen using either a Smith-MacIntyre grab or a Van Veen grab; respectively. At each station, samples of surficial (1-3cm) sediments were taken from the grabs for the following analyses or tests: 1) acid-volatile sulfide (AVS) and simultaniously extracted metals (SEM); 2) inorganic and organic contaminants and total organic carbon (TOC); 3) grain size; and 4) sediment toxicity. Sediment samples from three stations in each of 20 coastal bays and one Long Island Sound site were tested for toxicity with three independant protocols: 1) a 10-day amphipod survival test of the whole, solid-phase sediments with Ampelisca abdita, 2) a 48-hour exposure of clam larvae, Mulinia lateralis, to sediment elutriates, with normal development and survival as the endpoints, and 3) a microbial boiluminescence test (MicrotoxR) using solvent extracts of the sediments. Seperate samples from these same stations were analyzed chemically for a broad suite of potentially toxic contaminants, including heavy metals, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), chlorinated pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls. Additional sediment samples were obtained from up to six additional stations in a few of the coastal bays; these samples were examined only for heavy metals contamination and the data are included in an appendix to this report."
Purpose: The survey objectives were to determine the spatial distribution and severity of toxicity, and to analize the relationships between toxicity and chemical contamination in the sediments.
Process_Description: Digital data were checked, formatted to dbSEABED input format, then processed using dbSEABED software to produce a range of output formats. The processing contained quality checking that may have declined to pass faulty or suspect data to outputs.
Source_Used_Citation_Abbreviation: NOAA.exe
Process_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Person_Primary:
Contact_Person: Chris Jenkins
Contact_Organization: Institute of Arctic & Alpine Research (INSTAAR) University of Colorado at Boulder