sediments, that there are sewage-related deposits quite far offshore, tens of kilometers 
from the possible sources. 
I would now like to put these values into perspective. I showed you that the 
concentrations of PCBs in the Harbor are, at the high end, close to 0.5 part per million, or 
maybe more. Some known problem areas in the nation (for example New Bedford Harbor) 
have very, very high values. Outside of the New Bedford Harbor situation, we see that 
levels in Boston Harbor are similar to what we find in Buzzards Bay, in New York Harbor 
and in Commencement Bay. Thus, the Harbor contains fairly typical PCB levels of 
polluted estuaries. ^ 
We have attempted to compare the Massachusetts Bay findings with some other 
well-studied areas. One such area is the New York Bight Apex. If we calculate an 
offshore budget for the PCBS (say the amount of PCBs in sediments) and determine PCB 
distribution on a per-kilometer basis, we find that in comparing the New York Bight to 
Massachusetts Bay, the loading of PCBs per square kilometer are similar: about 0.9 
kg/km^ on the average for Massachusetts Bay and about 1.2 for the New York Bight. 
Although actual individual dump sites in the New York Bight are more heavily 
contaminated than dump sites in Massachusetts Bay (for instance, "the foul area"), as far 
as overall pollutant loadings is concerned, the total amount of PCBs in Massachusetts Bay 
is considerly higher than in New York Bight Apex (Table 2). 
Making a similar comparison for PAH compounds in each system (Table 3), we find 
that the amount of PAHs in the New York Bight Apex and offshore Massachusetts Bay are 
very similar on a square-kilometer basis (50-60 kg PAH/knr>2 on the average). 
In Boston Harbor, the PAH values are much higher than they are for other well 
known polluted estuaries, indicating that a severe PAH problem exists in the Boston 
Harbor area. On a square kilometer basis, the PAH loadings are 2 to 10 times higher than 
similar loadings in other harbor areas. 
There is also a considerable database on selected animals in the Harbor and Bay 
areas. Table 4 presents the levels of PCBs in a limited number of samples from our study. 
Looking at these data from the perspective of the ability to harvest (FDA levels) and not 
from the perspective of environmental health (similar to those aspects that Bob 
Murchelano will address later), only the winter flounder in Boston Harbor approach FDA 
limits of about 2 ppm. These limits, however, are still an order of magnitude lower in 
concentration than FDA limits. 
Elevated levels of PCBs are found, as well, in lobsters and crabs. Whether these 
observed levels are increasing or decreasing, we do not know. One of the missing pieces 
of the Boston Harbor environmental puzzle is a valid trend analysis on contaminant body 
burdens in the area. What we have presented today is, more or less, a snapshot of the 
status of toxic organic levels in the Harbor at present. 
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