Contmainant Transport in New York Harbor

My research uses detailed analysis of sediments to derive a historical perspective on organic and trace metal contaminants in aquatic environments. In the New York Harbor area, this work has grown out of research started at Lamont-Doherty in the mid-1970s.

My collaborators and I have collected cores and ⁷Be-dated surficial sediment indicative of potential sources of contaminants to the New York Metropolitan area. We employ high resolution gas chromatography and trace metal analyses to characterize contaminant sources, and use these characterizations to trace the influence of atmospheric and point-source contaminant loadings to the Estuary and urban environment.

My recent work has focused on halogenated organics including polychlorinated dioxins and furans, polychlorinated biphenyls, chlorinated pesticides, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers. In particular, I have used dioxin congener ratios and hexachlorobenzene to trace sediment transport between the western Harbor (Newark Bay, Arthur Kill, and the Passaic and Hackensack Rivers) and the greater Harbor and Hudson River Estuary. With LDEO collaborators, I am also looking at the impact of the World Trade Center disaster on contaminant loadings in the New York urban atmosphere.

Project-related Abstracts and Publications

• Benedict, L. A., Bopp, R. F., Chaky, D. A., and Chillrud, S. N. (2008) "Levels, trends, and sources of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in Hudson River basin sediments," Abstracts of the 235th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, April 6-10, New Orleans, LA.
• Benedict, L. A., Bopp, R. F., Chaky, D. A., Chillrud, S. N., Smith, J. P, and Olsen, C. R. (2007) "Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) levels, signatures, and source pathways in the lower Hudson River Basin." Abstracts of the 233rd National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, March 25-29, Chicago, IL.
• Yan, B., Abrajano, T. A., Bopp. R. F., Chaky, D. A., Benedict, L. A., Chillrud, S. N. (2005) Molecular Tracers of Saturated and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Inputs into Central Park Lake, New York City. Environ. Sci. Technol. 39(18):7012-7019. DOI:10.1021/es0506105.
• Yan, B., Benedict, L.A., Chaky, D. A.,Bopp, R.F., Abrajano, T. A. (2004) Levels and Patterns of PAH Distribution in Sediments of the New York / New Jersey Harbor Complex Northeast. Geol. and Environ. Sci. 26:113-122.
• Chillrud, S. N., Bopp, R. F., Ross, J. M., Chaky, D. A., Hemming, S., Shuster, E. L., Simpson, H. J., Estabrooks, F. (2004) Radiogenic Lead Isotopes and Time Stratigraphy in the Hudson River, New York. Water, Air, Soil, Pollution: Focus, 4:469-482. DOI: 10.1023/B:WAFO.0000028372.87703.b7
• Chillrud, S. N., Bopp, R. F., Simpson, H. J., Ross, J. M., Shuster, E. L., Chaky, D. A., Walsh, D. C., Choy, C. C., Tolley, L.-R., Yarme, A. (1999) Twentieth Century Atmospheric Metal Fluxes into Central Park Lake, New York City. Environ. Sci. Technol. 33:657-662. DOI:10.1021/es9807892
• Chaky, D. A., Bopp R. F. and Chillrud, S. N. (2004) 2,3,7,8-TeCDD and Hexachlorobenzene: Basin-specific Tracers of Contaminant Transport in New York/New Jersey Harbor and the Hudson River Mainstem. Mount Sinai Superfund Basic Research Program conference. Persistent Contaminants: New Priorities, New Concerns. September 29-30, Bear Mountain, NY.
• Robinson, K., Bopp, R.F., Chaky, D.A. (2004) Chlordane and DDT in the Hudson: Recent Trends. Mount Sinai Superfund Basic Research Program conference. Persistent Contaminants: New Priorities, New Concerns. September 29-30, Bear Mountain, NY.
• Chillrud, S .N., Chaky, D., Yan, B., Kroenke, A., Ross, J., Family, F., Hazi, Y., Bopp, R. F., Kinney, P., Spengler, J., Simpson, H.J. (2004) Persistent Contaminants in the Atmosphere of NYC throughout the 20th Century. Mount Sinai Superfund Basic Research Program conference. Persistent Contaminants: New Priorities, New Concerns. September 29-30, Bear Mountain, NY.
• Yan, B., Bopp, R. F., Benedict, L. A., Abrajano, T. A., Chaky, D. A., Chillrud, S. N. (2004) PAH Sources to the Lower Hudson Basin. Mount Sinai Superfund Basic Research Program conference. Persistent Contaminants: New Priorities, New Concerns. September 29-30, Bear Mountain, NY.
• Bopp, R. F., Chillrud, S. N., Shuster, E. L.; Chaky, D. A., Kroenke, A. E. (2002) Particle-associated contaminants in the Hudson: A basin wide perspective. Abstracts of Papers, 223rd ACS National Meeting, April 7-11, Orlando, FL.
• Chaky, D. A., Chillrud, S. N., Bopp, R. F., Kroenke, A. E., Shuster, E. L., Walsh, D.C., Estabrooks, F. D. (1999) Atmospheric Deposition of Organic Contaminants and Trace Metals in the New York City Area: Insights from Dated Sediment Cores. American Society of Limnology and Oceanography Aquatic Sciences Meeting, February 1-5, Santa Fe, NM.
• Chaky, D. A., Chillrud, S. N., Bopp, R. F., Simpson, H. J., Ross, J. M., Shuster, E. L., Walsh, D. C., Choy, C. C., Tolley, L.-R., Yarme, A., Estabrooks, F. D. (1998) Atmospheric Contaminant Fluxes into Central Park and the New York Metropolitan Area. Superfund Communities: Who's Exposed and Who's at Risk? March 23-34, Cambridge, MA.
• Chaky, D. A., Chillrud, S. N., Bopp, R. F., Shuster, E. L., Estabrooks, F. D., Swart, J. (1998) Chlorinated Hydrocarbon Contamination of the New York / New Jersey Metropolitan Area: The Urban Atmospheric Influence. EOS Trans. American Geophysical Union 79: Spring Meeting Supplement S86.
• Kroenke, A. E., Bopp, R. F., Chaky, D. A., Chillrud, S. N., Shuster, E. L., Estabrooks, F. D., Swart, J. (1998) Atmospheric Deposition and Fluxes of Mercury in Remote and Urban Areas of the Hudson River Basin. EOS Trans. American Geophysical Union 79: Spring Meeting Supplement S86.