Chicago area background contaminants in wetland sediments and surface waters: Supporting the Calumet Wetlands Ecotoxicological Assessment

Marvin Piwani, Teresa Chow, Gary Bordson, Jonathan Talbott, Luann Wiedenmann, Monte Wilcoxon, William Bogner

Research output: Book/Report/Conference proceedingTechnical report

Abstract

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources funded a study at the lllinois Waste Management and Research Center and the Jllinois State Water Survey, to investigate background concentrations of toxic environmental contaminants in the south Chicago area. The study, funded through the Environmental Protection Trust Fund, was undertaken to provide background information on environmental contaminants in support of the Chicago Department of Environment's efforts to revitalize wetlands in the Calumet region of South Chicago. An important component of the revitalization effort is defining ecotoxicological risks in these environments. Criteria to minimize such risks have been developed by the Calumet Ecotox Protocol Technical Team (2005). Surface water and sediment background concentrations for the region's wetlands were identified as lacking. Eight ponds and lakes were sampled for surface waters and sediments. These samples were analyzed for a variety of toxic metal and organic constituents as well as a number of major constituents and other system properties. The water column was largely free of toxic constituents - median values for the measured parameters are provided for the surface waters. The sediment data was subjected to rigorous statistical assessment to generate defensible background concentrations for the region.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Number of pages178
StatePublished - Oct 25 2006

Keywords

  • Chemical pollution in wetlands
  • Toxic environmental contaminants
  • Organochlorine compounds
  • Toxic metals

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