Trace element concentrations in surface estuarine and marine sediments along the Mississippi Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina.

Hurricanes are relatively frequent ecological disturbances that may cause potentially long-term impacts to the coastal environment. Hurricane Katrina hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast in August 2005, and caused a storm surge with the potential to change the trace element content of coastal surface sediments. In this study, surface estuarine and marine sediments were collected monthly following the storm from ten sites along the Mississippi Gulf Coast (Mobile Bay, Grand Bay Bayous Heron and Cumbest, Pascagoula, Ocean Springs, Biloxi Gulf, Back Biloxi Bay, Gulfport Gulf, Gulfport Courthouse Rd, and Gulfport Marina).

Use of bioassays and sediment polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations to assess toxicity at coastal sites impacted by Hurricane Katrina.

The goal of the present study was twofold: to rapidly assess the potential environmental toxicological response following the storm surge and flooding caused by Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, USA, in August 2005, and to establish post-Katrina baseline toxicological profiles for three environmental matrices (water, suspended sediments, and sediments) within the intertidal zone. Sediment and water samples were collected monthly from September 2005 to 2006 from 10 sites along the Gulf Coast from Gulfport, Mississippi, to Mobile Bay, Alabama. Water samples and suspended sediment matrices were extracted, assayed, and toxic equivalent values calculated for compounds with estrogenic potential, using the yeast estrogen screen, and CYP1A induction potential, using the H4IIE rat hepatoma ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase assay.