Fig 1. Chemical assessment of clean and polluted sediments, and sensitive and resistant embryos after exposures.

(A) Chemical Analyses of PAH concentrations present in Elizabeth River, VA, and Magotha Bay, VA sediment extracts. Compared to the reference site, Elizabeth River sediment extract is highly polluted with both low and high molecular weight of PAHs, relevant to reference site. The only PAH detected in the reference site extract are naphthalene (0.8% of the Elizabeth River level) and 1 and 2-methylnaphthalenes (4% of Elizabeth River levels). (B) PAH-exposure analysis using PSD at Elizabeth River, VA, and Magotha Bay, VA sites. Low concentrations of only 10 of the 42 PAHs tested, mostly low molecular weight naphthalenes, are detected at the reference site: C1—Naphthalenes have the highest concentration at 11.86 ng/L, while other detected PAHs are all below 10 ng/L. All 42 tested PAHs are detected the Elizabeth River site, with the high concentrations among high molecular weight PAHs– 689.57 ng/L phenanthrene, 2,075.03 ng/L pyrene, and 7,048.59 ng/L fluoranthene. (C) Chemical Analysis of sensitive and resistant embryos exposed to clean and polluted sediments extracts during 4 developmental stages (a–CC: sensitive embryos in clean extracts; b–CP: sensitive embryos in polluted extracts; c–PC: resistant embryos in clean extracts; d–PP: resistant embryo in polluted extracts). The highest concentrations of PAHs are detected in clean embryos exposed to polluted sediments; PAH concentrations in clean embryos developing in clean extracts were the lowest among the four treatment groups.