Table 1.— IDOE projects for pollutant transfer studies 



Organization 



Investigator 



Project title 



California Institute of Technology 



University of California, 

 Bodega Marine Laboratory 



University of California, Scripps 

 Institution of Oceanography 



University of California, Scripps 

 Institution of Oceanography 



University of Georgia, Skidaway 

 Institute of Oceanography 



Harvard University 



Oregon State University 



University of Rhode Island 



Woods Hole Oceanographic 

 Institution 



C. C. Patterson 

 R. Risebrough 

 E. Goldberg 

 R. Lasker 



H. Windom 

 J. N. Butler 

 N. Cutshall 

 R. A. Duce 

 G. R. Harvey 



Determination of the Input and Transport of Pollutant Lead 

 in Marine Environments Using Isotope Tracers.* 



Formulation of Mass Balance Equations for Polychlorinated 

 Biphenyls in Marine Ecosystems.* 



The Fluxes of Synthetic Organics in the Marine Environment.* 



Exchange Rates of Chlorinated Hydrocarbons and Similar 

 Chemicals in Marine Food Chains Established in the 

 Laboratory.* 



The Transfer of Heavy Metals Through the Inner Continental 

 Shelf to the Open Ocean.* 



Transfer of Persistent Pollutants in Sargassum Commu- 

 nities.* 



Effects of Ocean Water on the Physico-Chemical Form of 

 Heavy Metals. 



Atmospheric Pollutant Transfer and Deposition on the Sea 

 Surface.* 



Uptake and Transfer of Chlorinated Hydrocarbons in the 

 Atlantic Ocean.* 



* Discussed in following text. 



chid leaf, bovine liver, and tuna show that techniques of isotope 

 dilution analysis have the required sensitivity and accuracy to 

 provide reliable data for the low concentrations of lead that are 

 found in marine organisms. 



The objectives of Patterson's 5-year research program are: 



(1) Measurement of industrial lead input to coastal wa- 

 ters. In the southern California coastal region, virtually all run- 

 off is processed by man and enters the ocean as sewage. Patter- 

 son and his associates will collect lead from sewage entering the 

 oceans as well as lead from rain and dust falling on coastal 

 waters, and compare the isotopic composition of these leads 

 with the isotopic composition of lead in coastal water. The 

 results may indicate the degree of industrial pollution. 



(2) Measurement of the intrusion of industrial lead into 

 the open ocean. The isotopic composition of lead in fishes in 

 different oceanic localities also can probably be used to study 

 the extent of the intrusion of industrial lead pollution into open 

 waters. It is not known whether lead pollution is as great in 

 the open oceans as in coastal waters. Lead isotope tracers (ei- 

 ther industrial or natural) collected by fish from the water and 

 accumulated in different organs have different residence times in 

 those tissues, and samples of lead from these reservoirs at differ- 

 ent ages provide a means of studying the problem of ocean lead 

 pollution. 



The isotopic compositions of leads will be determined from 

 the tissues of fishes collected from the coastal waters of Alaska, 

 California. Hawaii, and Peru as well as from deep waters. 



(3) Investigations of the distribution of lead in fishes. 

 The distribution of lead will be determined in bone, gills, integu- 

 ment, muscle, scales, vascular tissues, and other organs, as well 



as stomach contents and feces. Other concentrations of metals 

 (Ba, Ca, Sn, Sr) will be measured where appropriate. 



(4) Investigations of the distribution of lead among prin- 

 cipal reservoirs in marine waters. Total lead within the upper 

 200 meters of the oceans is contained in organisms and parti- 

 cles, as well as existing in dissolved ionic form. Preliminary 

 indications suggest that ionic lead may represent a small fraction 

 of the total lead. Furthermore, it is. possible that the major 

 portion of total lead may not be contained in colloids but may 

 reside in plankton or be attached to surface mucous albuminoids 

 of larger marine organisms. 



Patterson's group is developing a method for analyzing 

 ionic and colloid lead in 100 milliliters of seawater using isotope 

 dilution, so as to determine reliably and accurately the ratio of 

 dissolved ionic lead and colloidal lead. 



Also under development are seawater standards (for lead 

 content), to be used for interlaboratory calibration, and a lead- 

 free plankton sampler and procedure to obtain contamination- 

 free samples. 



A partial summary of Patterson's progress shows that tech- 

 niques of stable lead isotope dilution analysis are sufficiently 

 sensitive and accurate to provide satisfactory analyses of fish. 

 The IDOE-National Bureau of Standards orchard leaf reference 

 contains too much lead to be useful for marine substances. The 

 bovine-liver reference is satisfactory for materials with a high 

 lead-range. Another reference containing less than one-tenth as 

 much lead is needed, however. The tuna muscle reference mate- 

 rial was contaminated by a factor of 10 by a commercial food 

 processor, which suggests that such kinds of activities may intro- 

 duce considerable amounts of lead into human foods. Lead 



