USF St. Petersburg campus Master's Theses (Graduate)

Lindsey Hanson

First Advisor

Major Professor: Henry Alegria Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Co-Major Professor: Michael Martinez Colon Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Foday M. Jaward Ph.D.

Fourth Advisor

Gregg Brooks Ph.D.

Fifth Advisor

Barnali Dixon Ph.D.

Publisher

University of South Florida St. Petersburg

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Date

2017

Date Issued

March 21, 2017

Abstract

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were quantified in 18 surface sediment samples, 1 sediment core, and several mangrove tissue samples collected in Jobos Bay, Puerto Rico in September 2013. Total PCBs in surface sediments ranged from 0.42 to 1232 ng g-1 dw. Generally, higher levels were observed near the shore, close to urban and industrial areas. The levels suggest significant pollution in Jobos Bay with respect to PCBs. Two-thirds of the sites were dominated by lighter PCB congeners (tri- to penta-chlorinated PCBs) while one-third had heavy PCB congeners (hexa- to octa-chlorinated PCBs) dominant. Total PCBs in a sediment core indicated levels fluctuating according to historical usage patterns. Total PCBs were measured in mangal leaves (14 – 747 ng g-1 dw), roots (0.26 – 120 ng g-1 dw), and seeds (16 – 93 ng g-1 dw), suggesting bioaccumulation from sediments. This is the first report of a historical profile of PCBs in the study area and of PCB bioaccumulation in mangroves. This article provides new and useful information on PCBs in the Caribbean area.

Comments

A Thesis Submitted in Partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science in Environmental Science and Policy College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida, St Petersburg

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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