title: Chicago's Sanitary and Ship Canal sediment: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, brominated flame retardants, and organophosphate esters.
abstract: The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC) links the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River starting in downtown Chicago. In addition to storm water, the CSSC receives water from Chicago's wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). Such effluents are known to be sources of organic pollutants to water and sediment. Therefore in 2013, we collected 10 sediment samples from the CSSC and measured the concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), brominated flame retardants, and organophosphate esters (OPEs). Geometric mean concentrations of the summed concentrations of 16 PAHs ranged from 11,000 to 420,000 ng/g dw, with the highest concentrations located at each end of the canal. Total PCB concentrations had a geometric mean of 1,400 ± 500 ng/g dw. Brominated flame retardants were separated into two groups: polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and non-PBDEs. Concentrations of PBDEs and those of the non-PBDE flame retardants had a geometric average of 83 ± 19 and 7.0 ± 5.8 ng/g dw, respectively. The summed concentrations of 8 OPEs ranged from 470 to 2,800 ng/g dw, with the highest concentration detected at a site located downstream of the Stickney water reclamation plant. Using ANOVA results, some hypotheses on sources to the CSSC could be formulated: downtown Chicago is probably a source of PAHs, the Cal-Sag Channel may be a source of PCBs, and neither the WWTP nor the Cal-Sag Channel seem to be significant sources of brominated flame retardants or OPEs.
authors.affiliation: School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, United States.
authors.forename: Angela A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Peverly
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, IIHR-Hydroscience and Engineering, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States.
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: O'Sullivan
authors.affiliation: School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, United States.
authors.forename: Liang-Ying
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, United States.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Venier
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, IIHR-Hydroscience and Engineering, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States.
authors.forename: Andres
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Martinez
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, IIHR-Hydroscience and Engineering, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States.
authors.forename: Keri C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Hornbuckle
authors.affiliation: School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, United States. Electronic address: HitesR@Indiana.edu.
authors.forename: Ronald A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hites
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002641:Chicago; D004952:Esters; D005411:Flame Retardants / Q000032:analysis*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry*; D054879:Halogenation; D010755:Organophosphates / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000032:analysis*; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis*; D045483:Rivers / Q000737:chemistry; D012722:Sewage; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D004952:Esters; D005411:Flame Retardants; D010755:Organophosphates; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D012722:Sewage; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls
keywords: Organophosphate esters; Polybrominated diphenyl ethers; Polychlorinated biphenyls; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Sediment