fairfolio
Saved Projects

Toxic Boatyards: Are Newport Bay Boatyards a Point Source for Heavy Metal Pollution?

CSEF · 2004 Earth Sciences/ Planetary Sciences/ Physical Environments

Alan D. Foreman · University High School, Irvine

Overview

Objectives/Goals My objective was to determine whether Newport Bay boatyards were a point source for the heavy metal copper. Methods/Materials Materials: 15 bottles (small) Filter 2 Large Ziploc bags 30 small plastic bags 5% HNO(3) Sharpie Marker 30 sets of clean plastic disposable gloves 30 pipettes Plastic Cup HF acid 2N HCl Centrifuge 7 clean plastic spatulas Procedures: A. Using "clean" procedures, two sets of seven water samples were taken at various locations in Newport Bay, and each location was recorded using a Global Positioning System. B. Ocean water taken at a location off of Dana Point was used as a control for the experiment. C. Unwanted particles and organic matter were removed through filtration. D. The concentrations of copper were measured using an Argon Plasma Mass Spectrometer, and were calculated using the "Isotope Dilution" method. E. 6 sediment samples were taken using a clean plastic cup at various locations around the bay. Each location was recorded using a Global Positioning System. F. Sediment taken off of a relatively pristine sandy beach was used as a control. G. The sediment was dissolved in acid, and the concentration measured using an Argon Plasma Mass Spectrometer. The concentration was then calculated using the "Isotope Dilution" method. Results The concentrations of copper in the water are two to three times higher around boatyards than they are in other areas of Newport Bay, and roughly 20 times that of the control. The concentrations of copper in the sediment are as much as 27 times higher in the areas adjacent to the boatyards than off of the relatively pristine sandy beach. The concentrations of copper in samples taken at the boatyards are also roughly 10 times as much as those taken near the marina. Conclusions/Discussion Boatyards are a point source for copper in Newport Bay. The concentrations of copper in both the sediments and in the water are significantly higher in the areas surrounding the boatyards than in other parts of Newport Bay or in the nearby ocean.

Summary statement

I determined whether boatyards are a significant point source for copper in Newport Bay by taking water and sediment samples; I found that the concentrations of copper were significantly higher around boatyards than elsewhere in the bay.

Help received

Used Argon Plasma Mass Spectrometer at Caltech under the supervision of graduate student Jeff Mendez in the Division of Geology and Planetary Science. Lab work for trace metal analysis was done in the laboratories of Dr. Jess Adkins, the research advisor to Jeff Mendez.

Awards (1)

  • Category Award

Competition history

  • CSEF 2004 Earth Sciences/ Planetary Sciences/ Physical Environments · Entry S0604

Resources

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

Source: California Science & Engineering Fair public projects

Save projects to your library

Sign in with Google to keep track of projects you find interesting, organized into folders. An account also raises your daily allowance for “Has this been done?”, and lets you create a key for the MCP server with a much higher limit than anonymous use. Browsing stays public.

Continue with Google