caribbean coastal pollution project (ccpp) -...

Caribbean Coastal Pollution Project (CCPP)

Strengthening Coastal Pollution Management

in the Wider Caribbean Region

United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, Hamilton Canada

By: Hanneke Van Lavieren

Caribbean Coastal Pollution Project

Challenges Caribbean Coastal Pollution Project

Coasts receive pollution via run-off, rivers & groundwater discharge; agriculture, industry & domestic sources

Limited to no information on POPs in coastal areas -sources of POPs/PTS & ecosystem effects in tropical marine system

Limited capacity to monitor beyond excess nutrients

Poor connections between coastal managers & labs - so situation goes unmonitored until there is a fish kill or health concern

Project details

Assessment, Monitoring and Management of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP) and other Persistent Toxic Substances (PTS) in Coastal Ecosystems of the Wider Caribbean Region

Funded through the World Bank - Canada POPs Trust Fund and UNU INWEH funds

From 2007- 2011

Engaged environmental labs, Universities, Government agencies and coastal managers in 8 project countries


Belize Dominican Republic Guatemala Honduras Jamaica Mexico St Lucia Trinidad & Tobago

Project study area - 8 countries

Project Goals

1. Build capacity to evaluate & manage pollution

2. Upgrade national and regional laboratories

3. Initiate baseline sampling and ongoing regional monitoring of coastal waters

4. Develop set of local demonstration projects that trace back and identify sources

5. Build network among stakeholders

6. Build understanding of the POPs/PTS problem in the management community, governments, general public


Network 10 labs evaluated on site 2 regional lead labs identified:

CINVESTAV Mexico and UWI Jamaica

Inter-lab comparison exercise Mexico, Jamaica & 2 Canadian labs

Equipment upgrades for Mexico and Jamaica labs Training in Mexico & Canada in 2009 (quality control,

& assurance, extraction, clean up techniques etc.) Instructional video on POPs extraction and clean up

methods

Lab evaluation and training Caribbean Coastal Pollution Project

Chemicals Monitored

12 Stockholm Convention POPs + 9 added in 2009

Contaminants of emerging concern: • “Down the drain” chemicals (e.g. pharmaceuticals, personal care products, endocrine disruptors)

• Current use pesticides used in agriculture and turf care for the tourism industry

• Brominated flame retardants


Decided to sample dorsal muscle: Edible tissue


Advantages: Found across the WCR Philopatric distribution in coral reef habitats Relatively easy to recognize Relatively easy to catch Some previous POPs data from the western Caribbean (MBRS

project) Disadvantages: Low tissue lipid content (~1%) Low on the food chain Not common in polluted environments Not always a preferred food species

Why the White Grunt


Completed Analyses: Trinidad & Tobago 17 samples (6 sites)

St. Lucia 20 samples (5 sites)

Jamaica 19 samples (7 sites)

Mexico 12 samples (4 sites)

Belize (PBDEs only) 12 samples (6 sites)

Sampling sites

5-8 sites per country Total of 53 sites sampled


POPs: Spatial Patterns Across WCR Concentrations in ng/g wet wt.

Sum

PC

Bs

HC

B

Sum

BH

Cs

Tota

l end

osul

fan

Sum

hep

tach

lor

Sum

chl

orda

ne

Met

hoxy

chlo

r

Sum

DD

Ts

Tota

l 'drin

s

Mean JamaicaMean Trin & Tobago

Mean MexicoMean St. Lucia

0

2

4

6

8

Conc

(p

pb)


POPs: Sites in St. Lucia Concentrations in ng/g wet wt.

Sum

PCB

s

HCB

Sum

BHC

s

Sum

end

osulf

an

Sum

hep

tach

lor

met

hoxy

chlor

Fond d'OrRoseau

Castries HbrVieux Fort Airport

Vieux Fort Bl Bay

0

4

8

12

16

20

Conc

(p

pb)


PCB Congener Patterns at Two Sites in St. Lucia. Concentrations in ng/g wet wt.

VFAi

rpor

t 1VF

Airp

ort 2

VFAi

rpor

t 5VF

B Ba

y 1VF

B Ba

y 2VF

B Ba

y 3

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7PC

B18

PCB3

1/28

PCB5

2PC

B49

PCB1

01PC

B87

PCB1

10

PCB1

49

PCB1

18

PCB1

53

PCB1

38

PCB1

87

PCB1

28

PCB1

73

PCB1

56+1

71

PCB1

80

PCB1

70+1

90

PCB1

94

Conc

(ppb

)

Black Bay

Sources of contamination in Vieux Fort Black Bay? - Airport - Urban pesticide use


PBDEs in White Grunt from Belize

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

PBD

E-3

PBD

E-7

PBD

E-15

PBD

E-17

PBD

E-28

PBD

E-49

PBD

E-71

PBD

E-47

PBD

E-66

PBD

E-77

PBD

E-10

0PB

DE-

119

PBD

E-99

PBD

E-85

PBD

E-12

6PB

DE-

154

PBD

E-15

3PB

DE-

138

PBD

E-18

4PB

DE-

183

PBD

E-19

1PB

DE-

197

PBD

E-19

6

Con

c (p

pb)

• Very low concentrations • No obvious spatial patterns

across the sampling sites


Fish Consumption Advisories

Mean and maximum concentrations and fish consumption advisory limits (ng/g wet weight) for organochlorine compounds and ∑PCB detected in white grunt muscle.

The advisory levels reported are for the most stringent values from the USA, and where applicable, for higher values from Health Canada.

Chemical Mexico Jamaica St. Lucia Trinidad & Tobago

Advisory Limit

Aldrin ND 0.07, 0.09 0.93, 0.84 0.45, 0.49 300

Endrin ND 0.21, 0.48 0.13, 0.14 0.42, 1.28 300

Dieldrin 0.09, 0.13 0.14, 0.19 0.76, 1.28 0.05, 0.09 300

∑BHC 1.12, 3.11 1.17, 4.91 5.07, 34.32 0.19, 0.84 100, 300

∑DDT 0.24, 0.33 0.15, 0.51 0.32, 1.25 0.14, 0.32 5000

∑chlordane 0.92, 1.55 0.33, 0.98 0.67, 1.27 0.05, 0.15 300, 5620

HCB 0.16, 0.23 0.02, 0.11 0.41, 1.25 0.15, 0.21 10, 100

∑PCB 0.15, 0.26 0.83, 2.01 7.83, 25.24 1.22, 3.20 50, 2000


Conclusions

Concentrations generally low & spatially homogeneous across WCR, indicating atmospheric sources of PCBs

Point sources may contribute to contamination by pesticides

POPs contamination in white grunt is not likely a health risk to fish consumers BUT only preliminary data from a small number of fish collected from 5 of 8 countries

These are the only data on POPs in coastal fish across the WCR

Demonstration Projects

Both aimed at identifying pollutants and tracing sources of contamination:

1. Passive Sampler Monitoring for Contaminants in the Caribbean Coastal Zone of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico – commenced December 2008

2. Quantitative Biomonitoring of POPs in Oysters in Caribbean

Coastal Zones – commenced February 2009, in Mexico, Jamaica, Trinidad


Passive samplers deployed in five cave & aquifer systems along Yucatan coastline

Riviera Maya in Yucatan Mexico - rapid recreational development – poor planning

Potential for contamination of aquifer from domestic wastewater, surface runoff, spills, agriculture, maintenance of lawns and turf

Potential for transport contaminants to coastal zone

Passive sampling of contaminants in coastal aquifers Caribbean Coastal Pollution Project

Some Results

Compound Probable Source

Amount Detected

Location Detected

SPMD extracts: PCBs Industry, urban sources,

atmospheric transport Very low PA, Tulum

Organochlorine pesticides Agriculture, atmospheric transport

Very low PA, Tulum

Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)

Urban/road runoff, industry, atmospheric transport

Moderate PA

Brominated flame retardants (PBDEs)

Industry, sewage, atmospheric transport

Very low PA

Synthetic musks Sewage Low PA, Tulum

Alkylphenol surfactants Industry, sewage Low PA, Tulum

Antibacterial (Triclosan) Sewage Moderate to high PA, Tulum

POCIS Extracts: Herbicides (2,4-D, etc.) Turf care Low PA

Fungicides Turf care Not detected -

Caffeine Sewage Moderate PA, Tulum

Human use pharmaceuticals Sewage Moderate PA, Tulum

Illicit drugs Sewage Low PA, Tulum


Quantitative Biomonitoring of POPs in Caribbean Oysters Caribbean Coastal Pollution Project

Mexico, Trinidad, Jamaica - native oysters for use as quantitative biomonitors

Bivalves (sessile) can be used to assess toxicity/stress at given site

Involvement of graduate students (Training) CINVESTAV Mexico UWI – Trinidad, Jamaica campuses

Results

POPs in Oysters from Jamaica & Trinidad - low relative to threshold levels for human health concerns

Concentrations of lindane and PCBs consistent with white grunt from same countries

Total PCBs most likely to undergo food web bio-magnification

Oysters & white grunt occupy low to mid-trophic levels in marine food web - risk of higher PCB concentrations in top trophic level piscivorous fish & fish eating sea birds

Recommendations

Coastal environments generate > 50% of GDP (tourism, fisheries, and marine shipping) in WCR nations & provide valuable environmental services, particularly coastal protection

Critical improvement needed to CZM is to protect overall environmental quality, rather than relying on crisis-mode efforts to mitigate specific instances of pollution

WCR nations lack information on contaminant loads & risks that toxic chemicals & other pollutants pose to ecological and/or human health

Effective adaptation strategies needed if WCR nations are to counter impacts on coastal ecosystems of changing climate, growing coastal populations and pressures


Recommendations: Regional monitoring

Build region-wide coordinated, comprehensive monitoring program of coastal waters (nutrients & advanced pollutants) as one part of an integrated coastal management program

Share data, open database and ‘state of the coasts’ reporting every 4th year

Build on White Grunt model, expand to new pollutants & other biota (& other ways as appropriate - within capability)

Assessment of ecological & human health risks posed by contamination

Justification for POPs and PTS monitoring programs in the WCR: Participating in global monitoring programs (e.g. GAPS,

proposed passive sampler AQUA-GAPS) Monitoring for efficacy of POPs reduction strategies Monitoring for fish and food consumption guidelines Identifying contaminant “hot spots” and point sources (e.g.

PCBs at Vieux Fort Black Bay in St. Lucia; Chlordecone in French West Indies)

Recommendations: Regional monitoring

Recommendations: Capacity Challenges

There is capacity at some centres in the WCR for analysis of POPs and PTS

BUT, challenges include: Aging analytical equipment Labs that don’t meet health and safety standards Slow access to equipment servicing (maintenance) and

analytical supplies Difficulty in retaining trained analytical personnel Lack of laboratory accreditation, quality control

programs, participation in inter-lab comparison programs, etc.

Need for technical training and education


THERE IS CURRENTLY:

Capacity to analyze for the “dirty dozen” POPs Little capacity to analyze: “New” POPs (the nasty nine) Perfluorinated compounds Brominated flame retardants Chlordecone Mercury and methyl mercury

Emerging contaminants Current use pesticides Contaminants in wastewater

See Lisa Sandy’s presentation

Recommendations: Capacity Challenges Caribbean Coastal Pollution Project

The WCR should establish regional centres for analysis of contaminants No need to duplicate equipment and expertise in every

country Individual countries can prepare samples (e.g.

extraction) for shipment to regional centres for analysis using standard protocols

Pay for analysis on a cost-recovery basis?

Recommendations

Gracias Thank you

www.inweh.unu.edu

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