You are here: Home › Stressors › Pollution › Research Assessments › Coastal Sediments (COSED) Study
Coastal Sediments (COSED) Study
A database of contaminant concentrations in coastal sediments (COSED) has been compiled from the results from a variety of NOAA and EPA projects that monitored chemical concentrations in sediment. These COSED data were shared with EPA for inclusion in its National Sediment Quality Survey.
The results in COSED, which contains data for nearly 13,500 coastal sediment samples, were compared to NS&T mean concentrations regionally and nationwide. The classification "High" was defined for a given contaminant as a value greater than one standard deviation above the sites mean for that contaminant at all NS&T Mussel Watch sites. The greatest number of sites with concentrations greater than five times High ("5 x High") were located in poorly flushed water bodies near densely populated areas. The most common chemicals at “5 x High” levels were (listed in decreasing frequency): mercury, cadmium, tin, and silver. Total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was the organic compound group most commonly found in the “5 x High” range.
Project Partners
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Further information about this study can be obtained from:
Daskalakis, K.D. 1993. COSED: a coastal sediment database exploring the spatial scale of contaminated sediments in the coastal US. In: Proceedings 4th Workshop on Metal Speciation and Contamination of Aquatic Sediments.