Collaboration to Enhance Contaminant Monitoring of the Southern California Bight
Scientists from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science ‘s Mussel Watch Program recently initiated a collaborative effort with the Southern California Coastal Water Resources Project (SCCWRP) to enhance long-term contaminant monitoring of the Southern California Bight. Starting on December 8, 2008, the 24 current Mussel Watch sites will be collected plus an additional 13 sites due to resource-leveraging based on this partnership. The Mussel Watch Program will be part of the characterization of historic contaminants and emerging contaminants of concern, i.e. the flame retardants known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs). Multiple state and academic institutions will collaborate with this partnership on site identification and collection. As part of this effort NCCOS, SCCWRP, and the Los Angeles Discharge District started analyzing sediment cores to determine when flame retardants first appeared in the Southern California sediment record.
Related NCCOS Center(s): CCMA
Related Region(s): California
Shorter web link for sharing: http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/news/?p=965
