Inside the Laboratory: Investigating Oil Spills Using Comprehensive Two-Dimensional Gas Chromatography

"Inside the Laboratory" is a joint series with LCGC and Spectroscopy, profiling analytical scientists and their research groups at universities all over the world. This series spotlights the current chromatographic and spectroscopic research their groups are conducting, and the importance of their research in analytical chemistry and specific industries. In this edition of “Inside the Laboratory,” Christopher Reddy of Wood Hole Oceanographic Institution discusses his laboratory’s work investigating oil spills and uncovering dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) deposits on the ocean floor.

Oceanography encompasses a wide range of disciplines to understand the physical, chemical, biological, and geological processes that govern marine environments. This field explores everything from the dynamics of ocean currents, waves, and tides to the intricate ecosystems thriving in the depths of the sea (1). Oceanographers investigate how the ocean interacts with the atmosphere, influences climate, and support biodiversity, as well as their role in carbon cycling and regulating Earth's temperature (1). They also study seafloor geology, including tectonic activity and underwater features like trenches and ridges, and analyze water chemistry to monitor pollution and assess the health of marine habitats (1). By using technologies such as satellite imaging, underwater robotics, and advanced analytical techniques, oceanography plays a vital role in addressing challenges like climate change, resource management, and marine conservation.

Currently, scientists are concerned with the presence of the waste from dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) deposits on the ocean floor, and how this will impact marine habitats. DDT is an insecticide that was routinely used to kill insects that carried disease (2). It was used during World War II and decades later to help prevent people from contracting illnesses these insects carried (2). Although DDT is credited with ~1 billion lives saved from malaria and other insecticide-associated diseases, the indiscriminate usage and lack of understanding on how halogenated compounds behave and impact the environment has led to concerns that it has negative side effects to humans and living organisms, which makes monitoring, quantifying, and removing it from the ocean floor essential.

Chris Reddy, Bob Nelson, and their laboratory group are helping these efforts. Reddy is a Senior Scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, specializing the fate of oil spills, plastic pollution, and developing environmentally friendly materials, with over 30 years of experience studying major incidents such as the North Cape, Bouchard 120, Cosco Busan, and Deepwater Horizon (3). He has also investigated the long-term ecological impacts of historical spills, like those in Buzzards Bay, and studied natural oil seeps off the Santa Barbara coast (3). Reddy holds a BS in Chemistry from Rhode Island College and a Ph.D. in Chemical Oceanography from the Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island (3).He has testified before Congress five times, written more than 30 opinion pieces, and given hundreds of interviews for print, radio, and television (3). Reddy is the author of “Science Communication in a Crisis: An Insider's Guide” and "A Kids Book About Being a Scientist" (3).

Recently, Reddy and his team’s research was featured in a recent documentary titled, “Out of Plain Sight,” which explored how half a million barrels of DDT came to reside at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and current conservation efforts to reverse the deleterious effects DDT is having on the marine ecosystem. Reddy was heavily involved in the discovery and analysis of the samples, and his friend and colleague, Dave Valentine of the University of California, Santa Barbara, was featured heavily in the documentary.

The documentary is a much broader story about DDT in the coastal environment. Of course, the discovery and analysis of the dumped waste, subsequent publication, and initial coverage in the LA Times kickstarted the whole thing.

In the first part of our three-part conversation with Reddy, he answers the following questions:

• Can you share a little bit about the history of industrial-scale ocean dumping, particularly of DDT, and its environmental implications?
• How do historical practices like these influence current policies on waste management and environmental protection?
• Could you elaborate on the nested approach using autonomous and remotely operated underwater vehicles in surveying and sampling the dumpsite?

Our conversation with Reddy is the first of a three-part conversation with him. The second part of our conversation with Reddy gets into the challenges that his team encountered during his studies, and why comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GCxGC) is well-suited for the analysis they conducted. Part 3 dives into Reddy’s experience attending the premiere of “Out of Plain Sight,” and he talks about his role in the documentary.

You can watch Part 2 of our interview with Reddy here.

You can watch Part 3 of our interview with Reddy here.

References

1. Texas A&M University, What is Oceanography? TAMU.edu. Available at: https://artsci.tamu.edu/oceanography/about/what-is-oceanography.html#:~:text=Oceanography%20is%20an%20interdisciplinary%20science,using%20ships%20(Research%20Vessels)(accessed 2024-12-04).
2. American Chemical Society, Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane. ACS.org. Available at: https://www.acs.org/molecule-of-the-week/archive/d/dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane.html (accessed 2024-12-04).
3. Christopher Reddy Personal website. Available at: https://christopherreddy.com/about (accessed 2025-01-07).