Researchers from the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) spent a day in late July collecting sediment and water samples from the Manitowoc River in Manitowoc, WI, as part of a joint research project.
A manufactured gas plant used to be located on the river and the main concerns at the site are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals that may have been left behind after the plant closed.
Scientists in the WSLH environmental toxicology laboratory will conduct toxicity tests for both sediment and overlying water (or elutriate) after sediment is mixed with ambient water and settled out. The WSLH will also be conducting inorganic and organic chemical analyses of the sediment and water samples.
The results will be used by the DNR to support the evaluation of sediment quality guidelines, particularly for PAHs.
WSLH Environmental Toxicologist Camille Turcotte scoops up sediment samples for testing.