Fingerprinting 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin contamination within the lower Passaic River.

James D Quadrini,Deborah A Chiavelli,Wen Ku,Peter H Israelsson,John P Connolly

doi:10.1002/etc.2961

Abstract

The lower Passaic River is an operable unit of the Diamond Alkali Superfund site at 80 and 120 Lister Avenue in Newark, New Jersey, USA. Between 1948 and 1969, the Diamond Shamrock Chemicals Company and its predecessors manufactured chemicals such as pesticides and phenoxy herbicides, including 2,4,5-trichlorophenol, which is a precursor to 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid, one of the primary components used to make the military defoliant Agent Orange. A by-product of this manufacturing process was 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD), and the site is considered the dominant source of 2,3,7,8-TCDD to the lower Passaic River and its environs. Several investigators have identified the ratio of 2,3,7,8-TCDD to total TCDD as a fingerprint for the site source. The present study presents data that establish polychlorinated dibenzodioxin/polychlorinated dibenzofuran (collectively, PCDD/F) congener and homolog fingerprints of soil and sump samples from the site. It then compares those fingerprints to the PCDD/F congener and homolog patterns in lower Passaic River sediments. The similarity of the patterns in lower Passaic River sediments to the site fingerprint indicates the site is the dominant source of the 2,3,7,8-TCDD in sediments within approximately the lower 14 miles of the lower Passaic River, excluding, for the purposes of the present discussion, Newark Bay. In addition, PCDD/F congener data indicate that the ratio of 1,3,7,8-TCDD to 2,3,7,8-TCDD is another marker of the site and corroborates the findings from the other fingerprints. Environ Toxicol Chem 2015;34:1485–1498. © 2015 The Authors. Published by SETAC.

Highlights

The lower Passaic River is a 17.4-mile long, partially mixed estuary located in northern New Jersey, USA, extending from the Dundee Dam to Newark Bay (Supplemental Data, Figure S1)
Some PCDD/F congener results were estimated by the laboratory because of matrix interferences from very high concentrations of 2,3,7,8-TCDD, which caused percentage recoveries of the coeluting cleanup standard component measurements to fall outside of laboratory control limits; these results were deemed acceptable by the laboratory and suitable for the purpose of the analyses presented
The present study presents spatial trends in the ratio of various PCDD/F congeners, average PCDD/F congener, and homolog fingerprints from throughout the lower Passaic River and vertical concentration and PCDD congener ratios from the 2011 high-resolution cores (HRCs)

Summary

Introduction

The lower Passaic River is a 17.4-mile long, partially mixed estuary located in northern New Jersey, USA, extending from the Dundee Dam to Newark Bay (Supplemental Data, Figure S1). Industry in the lower Passaic River watershed grew to include manufactured gas plants; petroleum refineries; tanneries; shipbuilding, smelting, pharmaceutical, electronic product, dye, paint, pigment, paper, and chemical manufacturing plants; and other industrial activity [1,2]. Major population centers such as Paterson and Newark transformed the watershed into a mix of residential, commercial, and industrial uses. Between 1948 and 1969, the Diamond Shamrock Chemicals Company and its

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