Post-Hurricane Sandy Contaminant Levels in New York Bight Sediments and Marine Life

Following Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) examined contaminants in bed sediments and marine organisms from New York Bight sub-estuaries. The dataset includes measurements of PCBs, pesticides, PBDEs, PAHs, aliphatic hydrocarbons, and petroleum biomarkers. It was last updated on the platform in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Assessing post-storm contaminant redistribution based on sediment hydrocarbon and biomarker data
• Modeling bioaccumulation of PCBs and pesticides in young-of-the-year bluefish
• Comparing contaminant profiles in benthic sediments versus filter-feeding mussels
• Analyzing the environmental persistence of organochlorine compounds and PBDEs after a hurricane

Strengths

• Data covers multiple contaminant classes including PCBs, PAHs, and petroleum biomarkers
• Examines both environmental media (sediments) and biological indicators (fish, mussels)
• Focuses on a specific, high-impact temporal event (Hurricane Sandy, October 2012)

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale modeling

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce

Collection Method

Laboratory examination of collected sediment and biological samples

Time Range

Following Hurricane Sandy in October 2012

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-14 22:48:51.823625; freshness should be verified

Geography

New York Bight sub-estuaries