# Chat Transcript: Superfund Site Contaminants Analysis

## Date: December 31, 2025

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👤 **User**  
@spoke-okn: What contaminants are found at Superfund sites? Include the location of the sites.

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🧠 **Assistant**  

I'll help you find information about contaminants at Superfund sites and their locations. Let me start by understanding what data is available in this knowledge graph.

*[Retrieved SPOKE-OKN knowledge graph description]*

The SPOKE-OKN (SPOKE Open Knowledge Network) KG is a comprehensive biomedical and environmental health knowledge graph that integrates diverse data across genomics, environmental science, and public health. It encompasses multiple primary entity types, including organisms, geographic locations (from countries to ZIP codes), genes, diseases, chemical compounds, social determinants of health, and environmental contexts.

*[Retrieved schema information and identified relevant relationships]*

After querying the SPOKE-OKN knowledge graph, I found extensive data about contaminants at Superfund sites (National Priorities List sites) across the United States. Here are my findings:

## Common Contaminants at Superfund Sites

The knowledge graph contains detailed information about numerous Superfund sites across the United States, identified by ZIP codes. These sites contain a wide range of hazardous contaminants in various environmental media.

### Major Categories of Contaminants:

**Heavy Metals:**
- Arsenic - Found in groundwater, soil, sediment, and leachate at multiple sites
- Lead - Present in soil, groundwater, surface water, sediment, and air emissions
- Mercury - Detected in groundwater, soil, sediment, surface water, leachate, and solid waste
- Chromium - Found in soil, groundwater, sediment, and air emissions
- Cadmium - Present in soil, groundwater, and sediment
- Copper, Nickel, Zinc, Barium, Aluminum, Antimony, Beryllium, Selenium, Thallium

**Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs):**
- Benzene - Found in soil, groundwater, air, landfill gas
- Trichloroethylene - In soil, groundwater, sediment, landfill gas
- Tetrachloroethylene - In groundwater and soil
- Vinyl Chloride - In soil, groundwater, air, sediment, landfill gas
- Ethylbenzene - In soil, groundwater, air emissions
- 1,2-Dichloroethylene - In groundwater, soil, sediment
- Chloroform, Methylene Chloride, Carbon Tetrachloride
- Various chlorinated solvents (1,1,1-Trichloroethane, 1,1,2-Trichloroethane, etc.)

**Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs):**
- Benzo[a]pyrene - In soil and sediment
- Benz(a)anthracene - In soil, sediment, groundwater
- Benzo[b]fluoranthene - In soil, sediment, groundwater
- Chrysene, Naphthalene, Anthracene, Acenaphthene

**Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs):**
- Various PCB congeners including hexachlorobiphenyls and pentachlorobiphenyls in soil and groundwater

**Other Organic Compounds:**
- Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate
- Dioxins (2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-P-dioxin)
- Chlorobenzenes (1,2-Dichlorobenzene, 1,4-Dichlorobenzene, etc.)
- Pesticides (Dieldrin, Endosulfan, Chlordane)

### Example Site Locations:

While the knowledge graph uses ZIP codes as identifiers, here are some representative sites:

- **ZIP 00801**: Contains 28+ contaminants including arsenic, benzene, lead, mercury, chromium, trichloroethylene, vinyl chloride in groundwater and soil
- **ZIP 01853**: Major contamination with 90+ different compounds including PCBs, dioxins, heavy metals, VOCs, and PAHs
- **ZIP 02880**: Extensive contamination in groundwater, soil, leachate, landfill gas including benzene, lead, mercury, vinyl chloride
- **ZIP 03803**: Over 100 different contaminants in soil, groundwater, sediment, and surface water

### Environmental Media Affected:

- **Groundwater**: Most frequently contaminated media
- **Soil**: Second most common
- **Sediment**: In aquatic environments
- **Surface Water**: Rivers, streams, ponds
- **Air Emissions**: Volatile compounds
- **Landfill Gas**: At waste disposal sites
- **Leachate**: Liquid that has percolated through waste

### NPL Status:

Sites are categorized as:
- "Currently on the Final NPL" - Active Superfund sites
- "Deleted from the Final NPL" - Sites where cleanup has been completed

The data shows that Superfund sites contain complex mixtures of industrial chemicals, heavy metals, and organic pollutants that contaminate multiple environmental compartments, requiring comprehensive remediation efforts.

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*Created by [mcp-proto-okn](https://github.com/sbl-sdsc/mcp-proto-okn) 0.4.0 on 2025-12-31*

*Model: Claude Sonnet 4.5 (claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929)*
