During the 1980s and 1990s, numerous fish kills were reported within the estuary; marine mammals 

 that were found stranded often had a variety of different lesions; and anglers were advised to avoid 

 consuming large amounts of fish from the estuary (Gottholm et al., 1993). In addition, in studies 

 performed by the NS&T Program, the prevalence of liver lesions in demersal fish caught in the estuary 

 were significantly elevated relative to reference sites (Gottholm et al., 1993). 



Tietjen and Lee (1984) reported that sediments from all of their 10 sampling sites in the Hudson- 

 Raritan Estuary were significantly toxic to the growth of nematodes (Chromadorina germanica) in 

 laboratory toxicity tests (Figure 2). Sediments from the lower Hudson River, lower East River, upper 

 New York Harbor, Kill van Kull, Newark Bay, Arthur Kill, Raritan Bay, Sandy Hook Bay and the lower 

 New York Harbor were toxic in these tests. In addition, most of the samples were toxic to another 

 species of nematode, Diplolaimella punicea. Tietjen and Lee (1984) reported that toxicity to the growth 

 of both nematodes was correlated with the concentrations of PCB, PAH, and mercury in the test sedi- 

 ments (correlation coefficients of 0.68 to 0.90, p=0.05). 



Scott et al. (1990) tested sediments from 10 locations in the estuary for toxicity to two species of 

 amphipods, Ampelisca abdita and Rhepoxynius hudsoni. A range of 12% to 100% mortality was re- 

 ported for A. abdita, compared to 1% to 8% mortality in reference and control sediments. Eight of the 

 10 samples were significantly different from controls (Figure 2) and five of the samples caused 100% 

 mortality in A. abdita. Toxic samples were collected in Newtown Creek adjacent to the lower East 

 River, Gowanus Canal, Newark Bay, Arthur Kill, and western Raritan Bay. Similarly, a range of 9% to 

 100% mortality was recorded for the tests with R. hudsoni, compared to 3% to 11% mortality in refer- 

 ence and control sediments. Of the 10 samples, four collected in northern Arthur Kill, southern Arthur 

 Kill, Gowanus Canal, and Newtown Creek were toxic to R. hudsoni. 



Scott et al. (1990) reported that mortality to A. abdita was significantly correlated with the concentra- 

 tions of total PCBs, total PAHs, several pesticides, copper, zinc, chromium, lead, nickel, and cadmium 

 in the test sediments (correlation coefficients of 0.70 to 0.90, p<0.05). Also, they reported that mortal- 

 ity to R. hudsoni was correlated with the concentrations of total PCBs, total PAHs, lead, and cadmium 

 in the sediments (correlation coefficients of 0.50 to 0.69, p<0.05). Mortality to A. abdita, but not to R. 

 hudsoni, also was correlated with silt and Total Organic Carbon (TOC) content (correlation coeffi- 

 cients of 0.69 to 0.70, p<0.05). In addition, Scott et al. (1990) reported that the concentrations of 

 toxicants in samples that were toxic to the amphipods often equalled or exceeded the ERL-ERM ranges 

 of Long and Morgan (1990). The samples that were most toxic had chemical concentrations that 

 exceeded the ERM values for many analytes to the greatest degree. 



The Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) of the U.S. Environmental Protec- 

 tion Agency (EPA) tested sediments from nine locations within the study area in 1990 for chemical 

 concentrations and for survival of the amphipod, A. abdita (Schimmel et al., 1994). Five of the nine 

 samples (55%) were significantly different from controls. The toxic samples were collected in the 

 lower Hackensack River, lower Passaic River, upper Newark Bay, upper Arthur Kill, and western Long 

 Island Sound near Hempstead Bay (Figure 2). Two of the nontoxic samples were collected in the basin 

 of western Long Island Sound. The samples from the Hudson River and upper New York Harbor near 

 St. George were nontoxic. Mean percent mortality ranged from 2.5±4.3% to 99.0±2.2%, whereas that 

 in the controls ranged from 6% to 9%. The samples from the Arthur Kill and the lower Passaic River 

 caused the highest mortalities (99.0% and 78.0%, respectively). 



