Paper No. 8
Presentation Time: 10:20 AM
Use of Passive Samplers for Detecting Spatial Distribution of Organic Contaminants In Lake Mead, Nevada, USA
Synthetic organic compounds (SOCs) pose a potential chronic or acute threat to the health of biota depending on the type of chemical. Approximately 650,000 m3/day of tertiary treated wastewater from the Las Vegas metropolitan area flows into Lake Mead through Las Vegas Wash (LVW), which enters into Las Vegas Bay (LVB). SOCs discharging into LVB can also originate from other sources including irrigated-urban runoff, storm-water runoff, subsurface inflow and accidental spills. SOCs have been found previously in bottom sediment, fish tissue and plasma, and the water column within LVB. Passive samplers were deployed in LVW, Lake Mead, and downstream of Hoover Dam, to determine the spatial distribution and potential sources of SOCs in Lake Mead. A commonly used musk fragrance, galaxolide, was found in LVB at a considerably higher concentration (up to 90 ng/L) compared to other compounds detected (generally <2 ng/L), followed by another musk fragrance, tonalide (9.5 ng/L). Both compounds were also detected downstream of but not above effluent outfalls in LVW (400 and 41 ng/L for galaxolide and tonalide, respectively). Galaxolide was detected at a concentration of 1.3 ng/L in Boulder Basin (approximately 20 km from the most upstream detection), but was not detected below Hoover Dam. The other compounds detected, many of which are legacy organochlorine compounds, were at much lower concentrations (<1 ng/L) but were detected at more sites including the site on the Colorado River below Hoover Dam. The spatial distribution of compounds detected indicates that the main source of SOCs is from LVW, but that other possible sources exist for organochlorine compounds downstream of Hoover Dam. Evidence of endocrine disruption in male fish has been observed at LVW, LVB, and below Hoover Dam including altered reproductive hormones, reduced gonadal development, and lower sperm quality possibly indicating exposure to estrogenic endocrine disrupting compounds.
© Copyright 2008 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.