Deposition of DDE and Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Dated Sediments of the Santa Barbara Basin

Abstract

Analysis of dated oceanic sediments from the Santa Barbara Basin of the Southern California Bight has shown that deposition of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) began about 1945 and that DDE [1,1-dichloro-2-2-bis(p-chloro-phenyl)ethylene] first appeared in sediments deposited about 1952. Concentrations of both show a progressive increase through 1967; estimated deposition rates (in grams per square meter per year) in 1967 of DDE and PCB were 1.9 x 10(-4) and 1.2 x 10(-4), respectively.