The Mississippi river and its tributaries pass through 25 states, and ultimately empty into the Gulf of Mexico, with it many pharmaceuticals from treated wastewater effluent and legacy chlorinated hydrocarbon contaminants. SSRI/SNRI pharmaceuticals are prescribed at high rates around the United States to millions of people. Antidepressants are introduced into aquatic and marine environments through wastewater treatment plants, where they eventually bind to sediment. Citalopram, sertraline, fluoxetine, and venlafaxine have been found in aquatic environments outside of wastewater treatment plants throughout the United States. Legacy contaminants such as PCBs, PBDEs, and DDT have been banned for over 30 years but often remain in the environment, as do their degradation products. These chemicals can reach the Mississippi River and potentially the Gulf of Mexico on transported sediment. Sediment core samples were collected at six locations during a NSF cruise on 26 August 2016-7 September 2016 using a multicore collection method. Samples were taken along a transect extending from the mouth of the Mississippi River to a deep offshore location where no contaminants would be expected to be found. Samples were divided into twenty 1 cm sliced subsamples. Both the SSRIs as well as chlorinated hydrocarbons have been shown to persist in sediments however little information has been generated about their presence in lower Mississippi River sediments or coastal sediments near the mouth of the Mississippi River. Accelerated Solvent Extraction, Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, and Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry will be used to detect legacy contaminants and selected SSRI/SNRIs in sediment core samples collected at the 6 locations within the Gulf of Mexico.

Anti-depressant and legacy contaminant fate in the Gulf of Mexico

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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