Sediment assessment

Sediment assessment with cultivated organisms for use in in vivo toxicity testing... 

Table 9. Studies with field-collected sediments assessment of areas of concern.

Table 11. Frequency of the number of biotic levels employed in test battery approaches (TBA) for sediment assessment based on the 34 TBA papers classified in Tables 9 and 10.

Ross, P. (1998) Role of microbiotests in contaminated sediment assessment batteries, in P.G. Wells, K. Lee and C. Blaise (eds.), Microscale Testing in Aquatic Toxicology Advances, Techniques, and Practice, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, pp. 549-556. 

The pT-index allows the assessment and comparison of the toxic potential of sediments and dredged material. It is one example of an integrated bioassay-battery approach developed for the purpose of environmental management. This sediment assessment index relies on the use of an appropriate battery of bioassays at different trophic levels (decomposers, primary producers, and consumers) allowing the measurement of various types (acute, chronic) and levels (lethal, sublethal) of toxicity. 

Table 2. Toxicity classes defined by the German Federal Institute of Hydrology for sediment assessment and ecotoxicological management categories for dredged material relocation. Ecotoxicological characterization is based on porewater and elutriate bioassay responses. For shade codes, refer to Table 3.

Thus far, quality objectives for chemical substances are derived from the most sensitive organisms in acute and chronic toxicity test batteries that determine NOEC values for different trophic levels. The pT-method similarly determines specific sample dilution levels that are devoid of adverse effects toward (micro)organisms of a standardized test battery. Common to both approaches is the more frequent use of water-column test organisms as opposed to benthic-dwelling organism that reflect more intimate contact with sediment. This practice is primarily based on the fact that standardized bioassays capable of appraising sediment porewaters and elutriates are presently more numerous than solid-phase tests for whole-sediment assessment. As more of these latter tests become developed and standardized (see Chapters 12 and 13, volume 1 of this book on amphipod and chironomid tests), their more frequent use will contribute to a better understand of the toxic effects of sediment-bound contaminants. 

Borgmann, U., Norwood W. P., Reynoldson, T.B. and Rosa, F. (2001) Identifying cause in sediment assessments Bioavailability and the Sediment Quality Triad, Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 58, 950-960. 

Grapentine, L., Anderson, J., Boyd, D., Burton, G.A., DeBarros, C., Johnson, G., Marvin, C., Milani, D., Painter, S., Pascoe, T., Reynoldson, T., Richman, L., Solomon, K. and Chapman, P.M. (2002) A decision making framework for sediment assessment developed for the Great Lakes, Human and Ecological Risk Assessment 8, 1641-1655. 

Bioassays provide a more direct measure of environmentally relevant toxicity than chemical analyses do, since they integrate environmental variables and contaminants (Keddy et al., 1995). The value of toxicity tests within an integrated sediment assessment system is given in Table 6.2.1. 

Table 6.2.1 Integrated sediment assessment system a hierarchical strategy Regulatory...

Biological/chemical approach. In a comprehensive sediment-assessment approach, five basic components should be considered (Krantzberg et al., 2000) i) benthic community structure, ii) laboratory bioassays for evaluating the toxicity of in-place pollutants, iii) bioaccumulation information, iv) knowledge of site stability, and v) physico-chemical sediment properties. 

Some recommendations for sediment assessment frameworks of environmental quality in the European Union have been addressed by Apitz and Power (2002). Keys to success which might be used to design a goal-oriented EU sediment framework are ... 

Forstner, U., Salomons, W., 1980. Trace metal analysis on polluted sediments Assessment of sources and intensities. Environ. Tech. Lett. 1, 494-505. 

Macko SA, Engel MH, and Parker PL (1993) Early diagenesis of organic matter in sediments Assessment of mechanisms and preservation by the use of isotopic molecular approaches. In Engel MH and Macko SA (eds.) Organic Geochemistry, pp. 211-224. New York Plenum. 

List the selected level 1 indicators nsed for water, water colnmn, and sediment assessment. 

CuUinane, M.J., Jr., D.E. Averett, R.A. Shafer, J.W. Male, C.L. Truitt, and M.R. Bradbury. Alternatives for Control/Treatment of Contaminated Dredged Material. In Contaminated Marine Sediments — Assessment and Remediation, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., r). 221-238, (1989). 

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