Ecotoxicological evaluation of sediments applied to environmental forensic investigation

Abstract The present study aimed to evaluate the potential for using toxicity assays with sediment samples for the detection of water pollution caused by the discharge of tannery effluents into water bodies and its application to environmental forensic investigation. The study included ecotoxicological evaluation of sediments, survey of benthic organisms in the field, as well as chromium, cadmium and lead dosage which provided data for a sediment quality triad evaluation. The sediment samples showed acute and chronic toxicity to the bioindicators, low biodiversity of benthic macrofauna and high chromium concentration, reaching up to 4365 mg.Kg–1. A close relationship was observed between the separate results of ecotoxicological sediment evaluation and the sediment quality triad. The sediment ecotoxicological assessment proved to be applicable to tracking sources of contamination related to tanneries and similar activities in environmental forensics.

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M-Triad: An improvement of the sediment quality triad

The Science of The Total Environment ◽

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145245 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 770 ◽

pp. 145245

Author(s):

Marina Ferrel Fonseca ◽

Fabio Cop Ferreira ◽

Rodrigo Brasil Choueri ◽

Gustavo Fonseca

Keyword(s):

Sediment Quality ◽

Sediment Quality Triad

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Assessing Contamination in Great Lakes Sediments Using Benthic Invertebrate Communities and the Sediment Quality Triad Approach

Journal of Great Lakes Research ◽

10.1016/s0380-1330(96)70981-4 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 22 (3) ◽

pp. 565-583 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

Timothy J. Canfield ◽

F. James Dwyer ◽

James F. Fairchild ◽

Pamela S. Haverland ◽

Christopher G. Ingersoll ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Great Lakes ◽

Sediment Quality ◽

Benthic Invertebrate ◽

Sediment Quality Triad ◽

Invertebrate Communities ◽

Benthic Invertebrate Communities

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Occurrence and Distribution of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Water and Sediment Collected along the Harbour Line, Mumbai, India

International Journal of Oceanography ◽

10.1155/2012/403615 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 2012 ◽

pp. 1-7 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

V. Dhananjayan ◽

S. Muralidharan ◽

Vinny R. Peter

Keyword(s):

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons ◽

Aromatic Hydrocarbons ◽

Sediment Quality ◽

Quality Criteria ◽

Marine Organisms ◽

High Concentration ◽

Sediment Samples ◽

Water And Sediment ◽

Polycyclic Aromatic ◽

Water And Sediment Samples

This study investigated the occurrence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in water and sediment samples collected along the harbour line, Mumbai, India. The ∑PAHs quantified in water and sediment samples were ranged from 8.66 ng/L to 46.74 ng/L and from 2608 ng/g to 134134 ng/g dry wt., respectively. Significantly high concentration of ∑PAHs was found in water samples of Sewri and sediment samples of Mahul (P<0.05). PAH concentrations detected in the present study were several folds higher than the existing sediment quality criteria suggested by various statutory agencies. The PAH composition patterns in water and sediments suggest the dominance of high molecular weight compounds and indicate important pyrolytic and petrogenic sources. The occurrence of PAHs in the marine environment has attracted the attention of the scientific community as these compounds are frequently detected in seawater and sediments at increasing levels and can have adverse health effects on marine organisms and humans. PAH concentrations detected at Sewri-Mahul site were sufficiently high to pose a risk to marine organisms if they are exposed continuously to this concentration. Hence, continuous monitoring of the ecosystem is highly warranted.

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Deterministic Assessment of the Risk of Phthalate Esters in Sediments of U-Tapao Canal, Southern Thailand

Toxics ◽

10.3390/toxics8040093 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 93

Author(s):

Okpara Kingsley ◽

Banchong Witthayawirasak

Keyword(s):

Ecological Risk ◽

Total Concentration ◽

Phthalate Esters ◽

Sediment Quality ◽

Potential Ecological Risk ◽

Concentration Addition ◽

Sediment Samples ◽

Mixture Effects ◽

Quality Guidelines ◽

Southern Thailand

This baseline study evaluated the ecological risk associated with the concentration of six common Phthalate esters (PAEs) in sediment samples collected from the U-Tapao canal in Southern Thailand. Deterministic approaches consisting of standard sediment quality guidelines (SQGs) and Risk quotient (RQ) were used to evaluate the potential ecological risk of individuals and a mixture of Phthalate esters (PAEs) detected in sediment samples. Of the 6 PAEs measured, only three, including di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), di-2-ethyl hexyl phthalate (DEHP) and di-isononyl phthalate (DiNP), were identified and quantified. The total concentration of the 3 PAEs congeners found in the sediment samples ranged from 190 to 2010 ng/g dw. The results from the SQGs and RQ were not consistent with each other. The SQGs results for individual PAEs showed that DEHP and DBP found in sediment was estimated to cause moderate risk on benthic organisms, DiNP was not estimated due to lack of SQGs data. However, the RQ method indicated a low risk of DEHP and DBP on algae, crustacean and fish, whereas DiNP poses no risk on crustacean. Furthermore, based on the result obtained in this study, the consensus SQGs for mixture effects prove to be a more protective tool than the RQ concentration addition approach in predicting mixture effects. Despite inevitable uncertainties, the integration of several screening approaches of ecological risk assessment (ERA) can help get a more inclusive and credible result of the first tier of individuals and a mixture of these pollutants.

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