Pollution history of the savannah river estuary and comparisons with Baltic Sea pollution history

The sediment record, as revealed in sediment cores, can be used to reconstruct the history of contaminant input into estuaries. The basic assumptions are that contaminant inputs equilibrate relatively rapidly with sediment inputs and that the sediment column represents a continuous sequence of sediment and associated contaminant accumulation. With radiochemical chronologies, it is possible to date sediments over a period corresponding to about five half-lives (100 years for ²¹⁰Pb). In our study we reconstruct the pollution history of the Savannah Estuary, which is a typical estuary in the South Atlantic Bight. A series of cores were taken in the estuary, followed by the analysis of the cores for a variety of organic and inorganic contaminants. Ages were assigned to different depth intervals by the use of two radiotracers, ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs. The major pesticides found were an isomer of DDT and dieldrin. The peak in their concentrations (1967) correlated with peak use of these pesticides before their use was banned. Between 1959 and 1962, there was more input of anthropogenic PAHs than before and after this period. The metals which showed significant changes in the cores include mercury, lead and chromium. Chromium reached a maximum during the late 1950s, followed by a decrease in the late 1960s. This chromium peak coincided with the initial operation of a titanium dioxide pigment plant in the Savannah Estuary. An interesting aspect of the study, which has been noted by many pollution history studies, was the decrease in the concentration of anthropogenic chemicals during the past two decades, suggesting that pollution controls have been effective, even while industrial and population growth was taking place.Similar studies have been carried out to reconstruct the historical record of contamination in the Baltic Sea. Concentrations of metals were found to increase after 1880 (industrial revolution in northern Europe). PCBs peaked in concentration in the late 1960s and the early 1970s, while DDT peaked in the 1960s. The Baltic experienced a major input of nutrients (N and P) after 1965 resulting from heavy use of fertilizers in this region.