Effect of Dams and PCB Levels on Health of Striped Bass in the Hudson River

Abstract

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a major pollutant found in the Hudson River. PCBs can build up in fish and can have negative impacts on human health if consumed. Dams were originally built in the Hudson River to improve efficiency of transportation of commercial goods, but now affect fish migration and sediment transport. PCBs often accumulate in sediment, so if sediment transport is affected then PCB concentrations in certain areas of the river would also be affected in areas near dams. This paper seeks to answer the question of how dams and PCB levels affect the health of striped bass by using data collected at 7 different locations in the Hudson River. Based on this data, when lipid PCB levels were high, measures of fish health would decrease. This indicates a correlation between high lipid PCB measurements and a decrease in fish health. Dams also decrease the transport of sediment, so we hypothesized that there would likely be a greater concentration of PCB in the sediment in these areas of the river. This could explain the high PCB measurement at Below Federal Dam found in our study. Our results show convincing evidence of a negative relationship between lipid PCB content and health of striped bass. Dams could lead to decreases in fish health due to high PCB concentration in these areas, which could lead to an overall decline in the fish population in the Hudson River.