GEOCHEMICAL ASSESSMENT OF POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYL (PCBS) AND OTHER TRACE ELEMENTS WITHIN THE LOWER SEGMENT OF THE HOUSATONIC RIVER, CONNECTICUT

The Housatonic River runs 149 miles from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, through Connecticut, and into the Long Island Sound. Throughout the river’s past, it has served as an energy source for numerous industries, including electricity, paper, textiles, and iron. During the long history of industrial, economic growth and development, the Housatonic River served as a “dumping ground” for numerous businesses and private citizens. The river is infamous for the polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) pollution by General Electric from the 1930s up until the 1970s. Anthropogenic contamination and pollution via industrial dumping, agricultural operations, and multiple other sources have detrimentally affected the Housatonic River. We predict that PCBs and trace elements will significantly vary due to a few key geological factor. Therefore, this project focused on determining the concentrations and distributions of PCBs and other trace elements within the downgradient segment of Housatonic River from New Milford to Stamford, Connecticut. In this study, we sampled stream sediments (and water) samples from twenty-five (25) different locations, and analyzed them for particle size distributions, organic matter contents, PCBs, and trace elements concentrations that include arsenic and twelve other elements (Al, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Ca, Mg, Mn, Pb, S, and Zn). Using a combination of statistical analysis, GIS maps with overlays of hydrology and land use activity, we relate concentrations of trace elements, and PCBs to land use. Calculation of element enrichment and geoaccumulation index on sediment samples show degree of enrichment and possible geogenic and anthropogenic sources of these elements.