Organochlorines in New York and the Hudson River: Sources, Environmental Distribution, and Health Risks

Overview

Contaminants

• Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs): Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) are oily liquids or solids made up of over 200 chlorinated compounds. Known as organochlorines, PCBs were used as coolants and lubricants in manufacturing plants nationwide. In 1977, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency banned the use of PCBs, citing the chemicals’ adverse health effects and buildup in the environment.

  PCBs can be found in air, water, and soil. PCBs released into the environment remain for long periods of time and are therefore known as "persistent pollutants." PCBs also bind to the fatty tissue of small organisms and fish. They can accumulate in larger fish and other marine animals that eat smaller fish in levels many thousands of times higher than in water.

• Organochlorines: The class of chemicals selected for the Superfund study because of their abundance in the Hudson River watershed, in the New York/New Jersey harbor complex, and in New York City; their ability to remain in the environment and the body of some animals for long periods of time; and because of the serious actual and potential health risk they pose to people in the watershed.
• Dioxins: Chemical contaminants that are found in low levels in foods. Dioxins have been found to cause cancer in lab animals. In humans dioxins in large doses have adverse reproductive and developmental effects and may increase diabetes and heart disease.
• DDT, Chlordane, Dieldrin: These organochlorine pesticides were introduced in the 1940s. They were used extensively in agriculture and in homes and neighborhoods. They were initially believed to be safe. In the lower Hudson River and New York Harbor, residues of organochlorine pesticides are found in various fish species. DDT levels were found to exceed the criteria for human health protection in some samples of American eel. The greatest DDT concentrations were found in the Newark Bay complex and appear to be associated with the former Diamond Alkali production facility at 80 Lister Avenue. Chlordane concentrations exceeded criteria for human health protection for several specimen of American eel, white perch, and blue crab. Dieldrin concentrations exceeded the criterion for human health protection only in blue crabs.
• DDT: A manufactured pesticide that banned in the United States but is still in use in other countries. DDT is found in soil and is ingested by humans in low levels through the intake of vegetables, meat, and fish. DDT has been found to affect the nervous and reproductive system of animals and is considered a probable human carcinogen.
• Chlordane: A man-made chemical used in the U.S. as a termite controller until 1988. Chlordane is found in the air, in soil, and in water, and accumulates in fish and mammals. Chlordane has been found in Hudson River sediment. In small amounts, Chlordane has been found to cause nervous system damage in humans. Animals given Chlordane for long periods of time experienced convulsions and harmful effects to their liver.
• Dieldrin: Humans are exposed to the chemical insecticide dieldrin through inhalation and ingestion. Humans are most likely to ingest the chemical by eating fish and animal products exposed to dieldrin in the earth and water. In animals, dieldrin causes liver damage and decreases the ability of the immune system to fight disease. Because dieldrin caused cancer in lab mice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers the chemical a probable human carcinogen.
• Mercury: Mercury is encountered at 46 percent of Superfund sites in the United States. Heavy concentrations of mercury are found in the Hackensack Meadowlands, a tidal estuary at the western margin of New York Harbor. Mercury is also found in fish. Highest mercury levels in the lower Hudson are found in striped bass. Humans can be exposed to mercury by eating contaminated fish or shellfish. Mercury effects the nervous system and is most harmful to young children exposed through breast milk.