Smarter Sediment Screening: Effect-Based Quality Assessment, Chemical Profiling, and Risk Identification
Milo L de Baat1, Nienke Wieringa1, Steven T J Droge1
1Department of Freshwater and Marine Ecology (FAME), Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) , University of Amsterdam , Science Park 904 , 1098 XH Amsterdam , The Netherlands.
Sediment contamination harms aquatic life, but current assessments miss combined risks. This study integrates effect-based methods and chemical analysis to better evaluate ecotoxicological risks to benthic organisms.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Ecotoxicology
- Aquatic Ecology
Background:
- Sediments are crucial for aquatic ecosystems but accumulate harmful contaminants.
- Current sediment quality assessments often overlook the combined risks of multiple sediment-associated contaminants to benthic organisms.
- Effect-based methods offer advancements, but methodological improvements are needed for comprehensive sediment risk assessment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore improvements in sediment risk assessment by integrating effect-monitoring and chemical profiling.
- To investigate ecotoxicological risks to benthic biota by combining life cycle bioassays with chemical analysis of sediment contaminants.
- To assess the effectiveness of current methods in identifying risks from combined sediment-associated contaminants.
Main Methods:
- Conducted 28-day life cycle bioassays using the midge *Chironomus riparius* with intact sediment cores from contaminated sites.
- Performed explorative chemical profiling to determine bioavailable concentrations of legacy and emerging sediment contaminants.
- Integrated results from bioassays and chemical profiling to evaluate ecotoxicological risks to benthic biota.
Main Results:
- All tested contaminated sediments adversely affected the resilient midge *Chironomus riparius*, indicating widespread sediment contamination.
- Bioassay responses did not correlate with calculated toxicity indices based on measured contaminants.
- The findings suggest that unmeasured compounds in sediments are likely responsible for the observed toxicity.
Conclusions:
- Effect-based sediment quality assessment is highly relevant for understanding ecotoxicological risks.
- Current chemical-only assessments may underestimate the true risks posed by sediment contamination.
- This study provides improved methods for sediment risk assessment, highlighting the need to consider unmeasured contaminants.
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