NCCOS Assessment: Post-hurricane assessment of chemical contaminants in nearshore waters and marine sediments at two St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) National Parks, 2021-08-16 to 2022-03-07 (NCEI Accession 0303533)

Marine sediment and water column samples were collected in nearshore habitats around the island of St. John, USVI during two sampling trips in late 2021 and early 2022 and following the landfall of two Category 5 hurricanes, Irma (landfall 2017-09-06) and Maria (landfall 2017-09-20). Marine sediment samples were analyzed for trace metals, organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), butyltins, pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCP) and biological (Clostridium perfringens) contaminants. Water column samples were filtered over solid phase extraction columns (Oasis HLB, Waters Corp.) and analyzed for pharmaceuticals and personal care products, including UV filters (sunscreens). We also collected seawater turbidity, pH, temperature, salinity and conductivity measurements at each embayment in 2021. Sediment interstitial water (porewater) was used in a sea urchin embryo development toxicity (SUETOX) assay to determine the relative benthic health at each site. Water samples for contaminant chemistry and sediment porewater for the SUETOX assay were collected between 2021-08-16 and 2021-08-21 while sediment samples for contaminant analyses were collected 2022-01-22 â 2022-03-07. Chemical analyses of the seawater and sediment samples occurred between 2022-03-30 and 2023-11-13. Total organic carbon and grain size analyses were also performed on the sediment samples from 2022, as those data can influence the results of each of those tests.

Tags: 1133, aquatic habitat, atlantic ocean, atomic adsorption spectrometry (aas), biological analyses, biosphere, butyltins, caribbean sea, chemical contaminant analyses, chemical contaminants, cinnamon bay, cinnamon bay (18n064w0017), climate impacts on ecosystems, clostridium perfringens, coastal habitat, coral bay, coral bay (18n064w0067), coral disease and health consortium (cdhc): diagnostic metrics, coral reef conservation program project #1133, coral reefs, corals, country/territory, cruz bay, cruz bay (18n064w0062), earth science, epidemiology and capacity building, field observation, francis bay, francis bay (18n064w0013), gas chromatograph/mass spectrometry (gc/ms), gas chromatography/electron capture detection (gc/ecd), gas chromatography/flame photometric detection, grain size analysis and total carbon, greater lameshur bay, greater lameshur bay (18n064w0024), hach 2100p turbidimeter, heavy metals, high performance liquid chromatography (hplc) with triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (agile, hydrocarbons, icp-ms (inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, in situ chemical, incubator for bacterial growth, johnson's reef, johnson's reef (18n064w0070), l099kt, laboratory experiment, leinster bay, leinster bay (18n064w0069), marine sediment, microscope for embryo evaluation, nccos research data type, nccos research location, nccos research priority, nccos research topic, numeric data sets, ocean basin, oceanography, or atomic fluorescence spectrometry, organochlorines (pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyl compounds, organotins, pcbs), pesticides, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, pharmaceuticals and personal care products (ppcp), pollution, pollution monitoring, reef damage assessment, reef monitoring and assessment, region, regional ecosystem science, sea urchin embryo development toxicity test, sediment toxicity, sieve and balance, st. john, st. john (18n064w0011), stressor impacts and mitigation, thermoorion multimeter, trunk bay, trunk bay (18n064w0009), u. s. virgin islands, u.s. states and territories, united states of america, united states virgin islands, virgin islands, virgin islands coral reef national monument, virgin islands national park, vulnerability and risk assessment, water quality analysis, watershed data, zoology
Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce