Biota chemical monitoring

As a final consideration, one should keep in mind that achieving traceability of water, sediment and biota chemical monitoring measurements in the context of the WFD will have direct implications for the way in which programmes of measures will be designed and made operational to achieve the good status objectives by 2015. This places a strong emphasis on the importance of metrology since any erroneous data could have tremendous (social and economic) consequences. 

In this study a series of surface water and deep soil samples were analyzed to detect ai migration or runoff of waste pesticides from typical Chemical Control Centers. Entomological evaluation of soil biota and monitoring of dermal exposure to pesticides of mlxer-appllcators took place throughout the 1980 season. No adverse effects as a result of the Chemical Control Centers were detected. 

In the toxic chemical monitoring programs, water, bottom sediments, fish (forage and predator), and other biota samples are collected and analyzed. 

Exposure Levels in Environmental Media. Environmental monitoring data are not available for soil and air, and the data available for water, sediments, and biota are not sufficient to determine ambient concentrations. These data would be helpful in determining the ambient concentrations of isophorone so that exposure estimates of the general population and the bioconcentration factor of this chemical in aquatic organisms can be made. 

Hexabromobiphenyl has not been surveyed or monitored in biota in the Environmental Survey and Monitoring of Chemicals Program. There is the first report of PBB detection in cormorants and fish from Japan by Watanabe et al. (2004). 

The use of pesticides in Malaysia dated back since after the Second World War. These persistent pollutants were primarily used for agriculture and vector control. DDT, dieldrin and endrin found extensive use before they were banned recently. Most of the other persistent organic pollutants (POPs) have been banned in Malaysia. However, residues of these pesticides were found in various compartments of the environment such as water, sediment and biota. Nonpesticide POPs were not monitored as much but recent efforts have included monitoring and management of these POPs among other hazardous chemicals. This chapter presents the current status of POPs in Malaysia and various initiatives to manage these pollutants. 

A strict relationship should exist between toxicity (the average value of the indicated toxicity parameters in the case of the organism analyzed) and the monitoring parameter of the chemical load of the sediment sample (the total concentration of the indicated parameter in relation to the average value of this parameter across all the samples analyzed) (Figure 9.1). A condition of the appearance of such a relationship is that the spectrum of these physiochemical parameters mirrors the factors that actually pollute the environmental compartments under scrutiny and indicate toxicity in relation to biota. 

The content of Hg in fish, contributing substantially to the dietary intake of this element, is present at a stable concentration level in comparison with the third monitoring period. Using plaice and cod as marker foods, the concentration of Hg in these fish species remains stable over the four monitoring periods. In geographically localized areas of the Danish seas, Hg emissions from chlorine-alkali and other chemical industries earlier led to an extremely elevated content of this element in marine biota including fish, particularly in the Sound [6], These emission sources have been discontinued and for over a decade the Hg content in locally caught fish has decreased [7],... 

The UK National Marine Monitoring Programme (NMMP), in which samples of seawater, sediment and biota are collected for chemical analysis and application of a number of biological effects techniques, including water column and sediment bioassays and the measurement of biomarkers in fish. 

Important principles of the sampling strategy have been described in the CIS guidance document no. 7. Depending on the objective of lire monitoring, the physico-chemical properties of the substance to be monitored and the properties of the water body under study, water, sediment and/or biota samples have to be taken. 

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