According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as of 2016, there were 534 instances of a pollutant interfering with the designated use of a water body in Puerto Rico. The purpose of this research was to assess the quality of oceanic water samples taken from Culebra Island in Puerto Rico. Water samples were collected from select public recreational beach sites and analyzed for lead content, turbidity, nitrate, pH, and hardness. Results showed that values for turbidity, nitrate, pH, and hardness were within EPA permissible limits. However, lead levels ranged from 150-575 ug/L, which is well above the EPA limit of 15 µg/L for lead substances in in coastal, surface, estuarine and ground waters. Lead is a known behavioral neurotoxicant and high concentrations pose potential health risks for citizens who frequent these public beaches in the Culebra Islands. Children, particularly those under age six who are most vulnerable to the adverse health effects from lead exposure, are accessing this water for recreational purposes with their families and are at risk of ingesting lead at every occurrence. To validate these results, our ongoing experiments aim to: 1) repeat these analyses with water samples obtained at two additional time points, and 2) identify a potential point source for the lead contamination around this area. Results from these studies will help to raise awareness about the state of these waters and provide insight into the sources of lead contamination.

Lead levels in ocean water near Culebra Island in Puerto Rico are substantially above EPA permissible limits for coastal and estuarine water

2019 Spring National Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.