Heberger, M.; Sutton, R.; Buzby, N.; Sun, J.; Lin, D.; Mendez, M.; Hladik, M.; Orlando, J.; Sanders, C.; Furlong, E. 2020.
Current-Use Pesticides, Fragrance Ingredients, and Other Emerging Contaminants in San Francisco Bay Margin Sediment and Water. SFEI Contribution No. 934. San Francisco Estuary Institute: Richmond, CA.
The Regional Monitoring Program for Water Quality in San Francisco Bay (RMP) has recently focused attention on better characterization of contaminants in nearshore “margin” areas of San Francisco Bay. The margins of the Lower South Bay are mudflats and shallow regions that receive direct discharges of stormwater and wastewater; as a result, they may have higher levels of urban contaminants than the open Bay. In the summer of 2017, the RMP collected samples of margin
sediment in the South and Lower South Bay for analysis of legacy contaminants. The study described here leveraged that sampling effort by adding monitoring of sediment and water for two additional sets of emerging contaminants: 1) current-use pesticides; and 2) fragrance ingredients including the polycyclic musk galaxolide, as well as a range of other commonly detected emerging contaminants linked to toxicity concerns such as endocrine disruption.
Sediment is a building block of Bay geography and is the physical foundation for tidal marshes, which must vertically accrete to keep pace with sea-level rise and continue functioning as natural filters for nutrients and pollutants from urban, agricultural, and industrial runoff sources. Sediment on the Bay floor can store contaminants within interstitial waters and suspended sediment can transport contaminants throughout the Bay.