Port dredging is of economic importance worldwide but its effects and impacts to the marine environment through the remobilization of elemental contaminants are not well understood. A massive widening and deepening of Port Everglades will begin in 2023 to accommodate post Panamax ships. The resuspension of port sediments is expected to have direct and indirect biological impacts to the adjacent nearshore coral reef ecosystem. Elemental assessment by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) of ten, 1-2 meter sediment cores from four locations at Port Everglades, two control cores, and surface sediment samples at two coral reef sites revealed that arsenic (As) concentrations (0.6-223.2ppm) in all cores exceed probable effect levels (PEL, 41.6 ppm); this is when a large percentage of benthic organisms are showing a toxic response. Molybdenum (Mo) concentrations (0-384.5 ppm) in all cores far exceed the background continental crust (1.5ppm). It has been shown that As enrichments are correlated with Mo enrichments that are induced by the strong relationship between these trace metals and reactive Fe. Element concentration spikes above the threshold effect levels (TEL; a toxic response has started to be observed in benthic organisms benthic) were also observed in multiple sediment cores for zinc (TEL:124 ppm and range 0.1-603 ppm), cadmium (TEL:0.676 ppm and range 0-0.92 ppm), mercury (TEL:0.13 ppm and range 0-0.63 ppm), lead (TEL:30.2 ppm and range 0.04-73.8 ppm), and copper (TEL:18.7 ppm and range 0-210 ppm). This project can help create environmental policies about dredging and mitigation steps that can help sustain and maintain healthy coral reefs and marine environments. Healthy coral reefs support commercial and subsistence fisheries as well as jobs and businesses through tourism and recreation. Approximately half of all federally managed fisheries depend on coral reefs and related habitats for a portion of their life cycles.

Potential environmental impact from elemental contaminants found in Port Everglades, Florida U.S.

ACS Spring 2022

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