The federal Mussel Watch Program has found a problem in this area.
The Hudson-Raritan Estuary had the highest levels of flame retardants in shellfish and sediments in the nation, according to federal officials.
The estuary encompasses the waters around New York City, including Raritan and Sandy Hook bays.
This week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released the first-ever comprehensive assessment of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in sediments and bivalves in U.S. coastal waters, including the Great Lakes.
In this area, blue mussels were taken from ocean waters off Sandy Hook and Long Branch, from the Shark River and from Barnegat Inlet, according to the NOAA report.
Monmouth County mussels had much higher levels of PBDEs than the mussel taken from Barnegat Inlet, the report says.
PBDEs have been widely used in many consumer plastics, textiles, electronics and furniture, the report says.
They've generated international concern because they're found globally and are associated with a variety of environmental and human health effects, according to the report.
Laboratory studies indicate that PBDEs may impair liver, thyroid and neurobehavioral development, and the most sensitive populations are probably pregnant women, developing fetuses and infants, the report says.
Scientists speculate that PBDEs may pose an ongoing and growing problem in coastal environments, the report says.
"This is a wake-up call for Americans concerned about the health of our coastal waters and their personal health," said John H. Dunnigan, NOAA assistant administrator of the National Ocean Service, in a statement. "Scientific evidence strongly documents that these contaminants impact the food web and action is needed to reduce the threats posed to aquatic resources and human health."
New Jersey also has found PBDEs in fish, including striped bass, bluefish and American eel.
American eel from the Delaware River had the highest levels and bluefish from Raritan Bay ranked second, according to a 2006 state monitoring report.
