Chesapeake Bay Pollution Extends to Early 19th Century, UA Study Confirms

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Humans began measurably and negatively impacting water quality in the Chesapeake Bay in the first half of the 19th century, according to a study of eastern oysters by researchers at The University of Alabama.

The work, published in Scientific Reports, show pollution’s effect appears a bit earlier than previously thought, but it generally confirms increasing deforestation and industrialization around the Bay led to water quality issues before the Civil War, which has been shown by other studies with different testing methods.

Humans began measurably and negatively impacting water quality in the Chesapeake Bay in the first half of the 19th century, according to a study of eastern oysters by researchers at The University of Alabama.

The work, published in Scientific Reports, show pollution’s effect appears a bit earlier than previously thought, but it generally confirms increasing deforestation and industrialization around the Bay led to water quality issues before the Civil War, which has been shown by other studies with different testing methods.

The study shows using oyster shells from archeological sites is an effective way to measure the environmental impacts of waste input on estuaries, particularly levels of nitrogen that impact the oyster’s shell chemistry as it feeds from nutrients in the water, according to the paper.

“We were one of the first to try this on archeological shells, and the first to identify an ancient period of pollution using this method,” said Dr. C. Fred T. Andrus, associate professor and chair of the UA department of geological sciences.

Read more at University of Alabama

Photo: A shell midden with oyster shells visible sticking out of the ground. Shells collected from such ancient trash piles were used to measure nitrogen levels in the Chesapeake Bay. (Photo Courtesy of Dr. C. Fred T. Andrus.)