A metal cage containing passive sampling arrays is retrieved off the coast of Santa Rosa Island in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary in August following a two-month deployment. The passive samplers help measure the chemical concentration of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) at the site; the findings will feed into an international study documenting background concentrations of POPs in coastal ocean water around the world.

SCCWRP’s Syd Kotar monitors water quality inside a mobile exposure unit on the banks of the Los Angeles River just downstream of the L.A.-Glendale Water Reclamation Plant. The units house fish that are exposed to flowing river water in real time, enabling researchers to evaluate the fish afterward for potential biological impacts from exposure to chemical contaminants in the water.

Mobile exposure units, which are set up along stream banks, pump water in real time through exposure chambers that house fish to more accurately mimic real environmental conditions. SCCWRP and its partners will use the technology for the first time this spring to track how fathead minnows are impacted by CECs in Los Angeles River water.