Publication Details
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An Assessment of Chemical Contaminants Detected in Passive Water Samplers Deployed in the St. Thomas East End Reserves (STEER)
Author(s): Pait,A.S., I. Hartwell1, A.L. Mason, F.R. Galdo Jr., R.A. Warner, C.F.G. Jeffrey, A.M. Hoffman, D.A. Apeti, and S.J. Pittman, A.M. Hoffman, and F.R. Galdo, Jr.
NCCOS Center: CCMA
Center Team: COAST
Name of Publisher: NOAA
Place of Publication: Silver Spring, MD
Publication Type: NOAA Technical Memoranda
Date of Publication: 2013
Reference Information: NOAA Technical Memorandum NOS NCCOS 157
Extent of Work: 26 pp.
Abstract: This report is the second in a series from a project to assess
land-based sources of pollution (LBSP) and effects
in the St. Thomas East End Reserves (STEER) in St.
Thomas, USVI, and is the result of a collaborative effort
between NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean
Science, the USVI
Department of
Planning and
Natural Resources,
the University of
the Virgin Islands,
and The Nature
Conservancy.
Passive water samplers
(POCIS) were
deployed in the
STEER in February
2012. Developed
by the US
Geological Survey
(USGS) as a tool to
detect the presence
of water soluble
contaminants in
the environment,
POCIS samplers
were deployed in the STEER at five locations. In addition
to the February 2012 deployment, the results from an earlier
POCIS deployment in May 2010 in Turpentine Gut, a
perennial freshwater stream which drains to the STEER,
are also reported.
A total of 26 stormwater contaminants were detected at
least once during the February 2012 deployment in the
STEER. Detections were high enough to estimate ambient
water concentrations for nine contaminants using
USGS sampling rate values. From the May 2010 deployment
in Turpentine Gut, 31 stormwater contaminants
were detected, and ambient water concentrations could be
estimated for 17 compounds.
Ambient water concentrations were estimated for a number
of contaminants including the detergent/surfactant
metabolite 4-tert-octylphenol, phthalate ester plasticizers
DEHP and DEP, bromoform, personal care products
including menthol, indole, n,n-diethyltoluamide (DEET),
along with the animal/plant sterol cholesterol, and the
plant sterol beta-sitosterol. Only DEHP appeared to have
exceeded a water quality guideline for the protection of
aquatic organisms.
Availability: Online.
Related Attachment: Download file (.pdf)
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