USGS Scientific Invesigations Report 2012–5068  - Reconnaissance of Contaminants in Selected Wastewater-Treatment-Plant Effluent and Stormwater Runoff Entering the Columbia River, Columbia River Basin, Washington and Oregon, 2008

Table 7. Summary of detections in blank samples, Columbia River Basin, Washington and Oregon, 2008–10. 

[No detections in blanks for pharmaceuticals. Raised reporting limits were used to further qualify the environmental data—detections less than raised reporting limit have been reported as “Present.” Abbreviations: E, estimated; PBDE, polybrominated diphenyl ether; PCB, polychlorinated biphenyl] 

Compound detected  in blank	Highest value  in blank	Raised reporting limit  (5 * blank value)	Lowest detected concentration
Anthropogenic organic compounds in unfiltered water, in micrograms per liter (field blank)
Cholesterol	E 0.62	3.1	E 0.8
3-beta-Coprostanol	E 0.58	2.9	E 0.63
4-Nonylphenol monoethoxylate (sum of all isomers) [NP1EO]	E 0.22	1.1	E 0.32
para-Nonylphenol (total)	E 0.42	2.1	E 0.4
Phenol	E 0.19	0.95	E 0.18
Halogenated compounds on solids, in nanograms (field, filter, and set blanks)
Dechlorane plus	0.21	1.1	0.19
Hexachlorobenzene (HCB)	0.22	1.1	1.0
PBDE-47	2.7	14	22
PBDE-99	0.84	4.2	2
PBDE-100	0.25	1.3	0.54
PCB-194	0.11	0.55	0.06
Pentachloroanisole	0.11	0.55	0.09
Triclosan	8.4	42	6.2
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), in micrograms per liter (field blanks)
1,4-Dichlorobenzene	E 0.014	0.07	E 0.015
Diethyl phthalate	E 0.155	0.78	E 0.22
Dimethyl phthalate	E 0.029	0.15	E 0.016
Trace elements in unfiltered and filtered water, in micrograms per liter (field blanks)
Lead in unfiltered water	E 0.053	0.27	0.18
Chromium in filtered water	E 0.084	0.42	E 0.075
Mercury and methylmercury in unfiltered water, in nanograms per liter (field blanks)
Total mercury in unfiltered water	0.24	1.2	1.9

Reconnaissance of Contaminants in Selected Wastewater-Treatment-Plant Effluent and Stormwater Runoff Entering the Columbia River, Columbia River Basin, Washington and Oregon, 2008–10

Reconnaissance of Contaminants in Selected Wastewater-Treatment-Plant Effluent and Stormwater Runoff Entering the Columbia River, Columbia River Basin, Washington and Oregon, 2008–10 