Concentrations of metals in Norton Sound seawater samples and human hair samples, 1989

• Main Authors: Crecelius, E.A., Apts, C.W., Lasorsa, B.K. )
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; ARSENIC; ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION; CADMIUM; COPPER; HAIR; SAMPLING; LEAD; MERCURY; NICKEL; SEAWATER; MONITORING; SEDIMENTS; ZINC; ALASKA; COMPILED DATA; FEDERAL REGION X; HEALTH HAZARDS; MAN; METALS; METHYLMERCURY; PLUMES; ANIMALS; BODY; DATA; ELEMENTS; HAZARDS; HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS; INFORMATION; MAMMALS; MERCURY COMPOUNDS; NORTH AMERICA; NUMERICAL DATA; ORGANIC COMPOUNDS; ORGANIC MERCURY COMPOUNDS; ORGANS; OXYGEN COMPOUNDS; PRIMATES; SEMIMETALS; SKIN; TRANSITION ELEMENTS; USA; VERTEBRATES; WATER; Pacific; Norton Sound; Nome; Alaska
• Online Access: http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/7138405; https://www.osti.gov/biblio/7138405; https://doi.org/10.2172/7138405

A limited survey conducted in the summer of 1989 indicted that concentrations of seven metals(As, Cd, Hg, Ni, Pb, Zn) in Norton Sound seawater are typical of coastal seawater. Of particular interest was Hg, which was determined to be in the range of 1 to 2 ng/L. Pacific Northwest Laboratory staff sampled seawater near Nome in June and September 1989. These seawater samples and sediment samples were analyzed for trace metals with the following objectives: to determine the concentrations of metals in surface and bottom water within 30 miles of Nome, to determine the concentrations of metals up-current and down-current of the BIMA gold dredge while the dredge was operating, to compare the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) total recoverable digestion technique for the analysis of metals in seawater with other analytical-chemical methods, and to determine the concentrations of metals in sediment elutriates. In a related issue, few data were available on the levels of mercury and arsenic in Nome residents through 1988. To fill this data need, samples of hair collected from Nome women of child-bearing age were analyzed to determine the concentrations of mercury and arsenic. 13 refs., 1 fig. 12 tabs.