National Status and Trends: Bioeffects Program - Biological Effects of Toxic Contaminants in Sediments from Long Island Sound and Environs

Description

A 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. The survey objectives were to determine the spatial distribution and severity of toxicity, and to analyze the relationships between toxicity and chemical contamination in the sediments. Sediment samples from three stations in each of 20 coastal bays and one Long Island Sound site were tested for toxicity with three independent 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 bioluminescence test (MicrotoxR) using solvent extracts of the sediments. Separate 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.The survey results indicate that sediment toxicity is widespread in the coastal bays of Long Island Sound. Significant toxicity was indicated for the sediments from at least one of the stations in each of the 20 coastal bays sampled in this survey. Manhassett Bay, Oyster Bay, and Little Neck Bay, New York were the three most toxic bays, respectively, as indicated by the incidence of significant toxicity from the three tests on samples from three stations. Only 11 of the 60 stations showed no significant toxicity in any of the three tests. Branford Harbor and the Connecticut River were indicated as the least toxic bays by this approach. About one-fifth of the total area (79.1 km2) sampled within the 20 embayments was indicated as significantly toxic by all three tests (survival of amphipods and larval bivalves, and MicrotoxTM).

Resources

Name Format Description Link
0 Live Data and Maps https://products.coastalscience.noaa.gov/collections/ltmonitoring/nsandt/default.aspx
0 View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/38768
0 Online Resource https://products.coastalscience.noaa.gov/collections/ltmonitoring/nsandt/default.aspx
0 Online Resource https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/projects/detail?key=241
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nos/nccos/dmp/pdf/38768.pdf
0 Live Data and Maps https://products.coastalscience.noaa.gov/collections/ltmonitoring/nsandt/default.aspx
0 Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2024. GCMD Keywords, Version 19. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords

Tags

  • analytes
  • location
  • latitude
  • nccos research priority
  • nccos research location
  • nccos research topic
  • pcb
  • date
  • national ocean service
  • east coast
  • northeast region
  • national centers for coastal ocean science
  • polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons
  • longitude
  • long island sound
  • and restoration (simr)
  • toxicity
  • station
  • microtox
  • environmental monitoring
  • geographic area
  • noaa
  • chemical
  • bioassay
  • long-term monitoring
  • new york
  • u.s. department of commerce
  • estuary
  • connecticut
  • pah
  • monitoring
  • organic
  • nccos research data type
  • stressors
  • region
  • doc/noaa/nos/nccos
  • butyltins
  • sediment
  • pesticides
  • polychlorinated biphenyls
  • parameter
  • state
  • bioeffects/toxicity
  • site
  • u.s. states and territories
  • coastal ocean
  • organochlorines
  • chemical contaminants
  • nsandt
  • inorganic
  • field observation
  • impacts
  • mitigation
  • amphipod
  • contaminants

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