Non-targeted analysis used to detect bioactive contaminants in Bight ’18 sediment

SCCWRP and its partners have completed screening sediment samples collected during the Southern California Bight 2018 Regional Monitoring Program for contaminants using non-targeted chemical analysis.

The work, completed in December, showed that this analytical chemistry method was able to detect chemical contaminants suspected of being responsible for sediment contamination impacts at sites across the Southern California Bight. The findings of the non-targeted analysis correlate well with the sediment contamination impacts that Bight ’18 documented using traditional toxicology and chemistry analysis methods.

The ongoing study also involved screening Bight ’18 sediment and fish tissue samples for bioactive contaminants using three bioanalytical cell assays. Initial assay results showed that the biological activity that was detected by the cell assays may be caused by the chemical contaminants detected by the non-targeted analysis.

The initial findings underscore the potential to use these two novel screening methods in tandem for identifying unknown chemicals suspected of exerting activity in bioanalytical cell assays. The project is expected to be completed this summer.