Spring 2025 Passive Sampler Project Update
If you’ve been following along on social media, these silicone bands should look familiar. You’ve seen us post about deploying and retrieving them from our waterways every few months. The bands are part of a project we are conducting in partnership with researchers from NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science at the Hollings Marine Laboratory to study contaminants in our waterways.
Started in 2020, this is a truly collaborative project. The Charleston Waterkeeper team tackles the field work and NOAA’s team carries out the lab testing and analysis. NOAA scientists put their analytical chemistry knowledge to work, while Charleston Waterkeeper’s team puts their knowledge of local waterways to work. We’re all working together to learn more about contaminants in our waterways.
Initially our goal was to determine if the silicone bands could be used as an efficient and affordable tool for measuring certain contaminants in estuarine systems, such as pesticides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are proven to be associated with several human health risks. We even chose our established Swim Alert sites because we also wanted to see if we found any relationship with the bacterial numbers.
Results so far have shown the highest level of PAHs in the lower Cooper River watershed. It turns out we also see the highest levels of bacteria in this same watershed. We know the lower Cooper River watershed has a colorful past when it comes to water quality. This just further emphasizes the importance of piecing it all together.
The passive sampler bands are so effective that NOAA has expanded this contaminant research locally to include other environmental factors, such as impervious land cover, and nationally to more geographic areas, including Hawaii.
Our research with NOAA has been presented at multiple scientific conferences, most recently at the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) North America in Fort Worth, Texas, in the fall of 2024. It has also been featured in several local news stories, such as the following report by ABC News 4.
New study finds pollutants lurking in Charleston waterways
Projects like this are critical for empowering our work to protect our waterways and the wildlife who call them home. It also highlights the value added by government and nonprofit organizations collaborating for our communities–neither of us could complete this important project alone. Follow us on social for all the latest action!
