APPLICATION OF PASSIVE SAMPLERS (PISCES) TO LOCATING A SOURCE OF PCBS ON THE BLACK RIVER, NEW-YORK

Dissolved hydrophobic chemicals can be concentrated with a passive, in situ concentration-extraction sampler (PISCES), an inexpensive and easy-to-use device made from plumbing parts and polyethylene film. PISCES is intended to mimic the direct uptake of chemicals from water by fish without the complications of metabolism and the uncertainty of location of exposure. This report examines the practical application of PISCES to a problem in identifying the source of PCBs to the Black River (NY). PISCES were deployed on three occasions at stations throughout the length of the river. Solvent recovered from the PISCES was analyzed for polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners. Relative homolog abundances and absolute amount of recovered PCBs pointed to a particular river reach as a possible source. A fourth set of samples taken in the city of Carthage (NY) defined a plausible source. Conventional sampling methods would not have been effective in this situation.