U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program--Proceedings
of the Technical Meeting, Colorado Springs, Colorado, September 20-24, 1993,
Water-Resources Investigations Report 94-4015
  
Accumulation of Organochlorine Compounds in Hydrilla Verticillata
Relative to Sediments in the Tidal Potomac River
by
Jessica A. Hopple (U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA) and Gregory
D. Foster (George Mason University, Fairfax, VA)
Abstract
Submersed aquatic plants are a sink for hydrophobic organic compounds.
An average accumulation of 71 micrograms per kilogram of polychlorinated
biphenyls was measured in Hydrilla verticillata collected from the
freshwater reach of the tidal Potomac River, and an average of 53 micrograms
per kilogram was measured in the bed sediment at the same location. Hydrilla
verticillata accumulated an average of 1.60 micrograms per kilogram
and the bed sediment accumulated an average of 0.77 micrograms per kilogram
for each of the five chlorinated pesticides measured. Accumulation of chlorinated
pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in Hydrilla verticillata
was found to be a significant factor in the redistribution of contaminants
in the tidal Potomac River.
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