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RIPARIAN SPIDERS INDICATE THE MAGNITUDE AND SOURCES OF POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYL (PCB) CONTAMINATION AT A LARGE CONTAMINATED SEDIMENT SITE
Walters, D.M., R.R. Otter, J.M. Kraus, and M.A. Mills.
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry [Published online 21 Jun 2018 ahead of print]

Following remedial dredging, researchers investigated PCB contamination at the Ashtabula River Area of Concern (AOC) using araneid and tetragnathid spiders. PCB concentrations remain elevated in the area compared to reference conditions. Patterns of contamination were strikingly similar between taxa, but were higher in tetragnathids at the most contaminated sites. Spider PCB homolog distributions identified two PCB sources to the AOC. Based on these findings, recommendations are made regarding situations where these taxa can be used singularly, in concert, or combined into a composite spider sample to assess environmental contamination.



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