In cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Immunoassay Screening of Sediment Cores for Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Devil’s Swamp Lake Near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 2004
By Peter C. Van Metre and Jennifer T. Wilson
U.S. Geological Survey
Open-File Report 2004–1397
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Contents
Abstract
Introduction
Sample Collection
Chemical Analysis
Quality Assurance
Estimation of Deposition Dates of Core Sediment
Sediment Descriptions and Polychlorinated Biphenyl Concentrations
Summary
References
Figures
| 1. | Aerial images of Devil’s Swamp Lake near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, showing (a) lake in relation to surrounding features and (b) approximate locations of sites sampled October 5, 2004 |
| 2. | Photograph of cores DSL.1 and DSL.2 split lengthwise for description and subsampling |
| 3. | Photograph of core DSL.4 split lengthwise for description and subsampling |
| 4. | Mosaic of photographs of core DSL.5, from Devil’s Swamp Lake near Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| 5. | Photograph of the subsampling of core DSL.5 collected October 5, 2004, from Devil’s Swamp Lake near Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| 6. | Graphs showing trends of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) as determined with immunoassay kits for samples collected October 5, 2004, from Devil’s Swamp Lake near Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
Tables
| 1. | Locations and characteristics of sediment sampling sites in and near Devil’s Swamp Lake, Louisiana, October 5, 2004 |
| 2. | Sample collection intervals, porosities, constant mass accumulation rates (MARs), estimated deposition dates, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations determined with immunoassay kits, and general descriptions of the sediment samples collected from Devil’s Swamp Lake, Louisiana, October 5, 2004 |
Abstract
Devil’s Swamp Lake near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, constructed by dredging in 1973 in Devil’s Swamp along the Mississippi River, is contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). This study investigated the possible historical contribution of PCBs from a hazardous-chemical disposal facility by way of a wastewater drainage ditch that operated from 1971 to 1993. Six sediment cores from the lake and three bottom-material samples from the drainage ditch were collected on October 5, 2004, and analyzed for PCBs using an immunoassay screening method. The results were used to evaluate qualitatively the historical input record of PCBs to the lake. Deposition dates in three of the cores were estimated by assuming that penetration of the push corer was stopped by firmer, pre-lake materials that mark the 1973 subsurface level of dredging. Sixty-one samples from five of the six cores and three bottom-material samples from the drainage ditch were analyzed. PCBs were at higher concentrations in ditch bottom material (about 1.1 to 2.2 milligrams per kilogram) than in cores from sites near where the ditch enters the lake (about 0.1 to 1.0 milligrams per kilogram). The highest concentrations of PCBs (maximum about 15 milligrams per kilogram) were detected in lake-bottom sediment about 350 meters west of where the drainage ditch enters the lake. Detection rates and median PCB concentrations were higher in all of the dated core sediments deposited before about 1990 than after 1990.
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