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EVALUATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES FOR NEAR-COASTAL AREAS OF THE GULF OF MEXICO
Citation:
Lewis, M A. EVALUATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES FOR NEAR-COASTAL AREAS OF THE GULF OF MEXICO. Presented at Annual Meeting of the Australian Society of Ecotoxicology, Gold Coast, Queensland, AUSTRALIA, July 04 - 08, 2004.
Impact/Purpose:
Conference abstract
Description:
Lewis, Michael A. In press. Evaluation of Environmental Hazard Assessment Procedures for Near-Coastal Areas of the Gulf of Mexico (Abstract). To be presented at the Annual Meeting of the the Australasian Society of Ecotoxicology, July 2004, Gold Coast, Australia. 1 p. (ERL,GB R987).
The regulatory and scientific communities in the U.S. have spent considerable effort during the past 30 years to prevent the entry of anthropogenic contaminants to the coastal zone at deleterious concentrations and to determine the environmental condition of near-shore areas. Water quality criteria and regulations to control non-point and point source contaminants have been modified on several occasions during this time period and attempts have been made to develop national sediment criteria. In addition, many chemical and biological surveys have been conducted in near shore areas of the U.S. Despite the historical experience and data bases, it is widely recognized that uncertainties continue to exist about which ecological indicators and assessment methods are relevant and necessary to characterize, quantify and predict the ecological condition of near-coastal areas, and to support chemical and biological criteria development. The primary objective of this presentation is to present an overview of current laboratory and field diagnostic procedures and environmental criteria and regulations used in the hazard assessment process for coastal areas. Current methodology status, method limitations, data examples and research needs will be presented for chemical and sediment monitoring, toxicity tests and surveys for biotic tissue quality and community structure. These issues will be discussed in relation to their value to existing water quality criteria and to the effort needed to successfully derive relevant sediment quality, tissue-based and biological criteria. The presentation will focus on the Gulf of Mexico which is an environmental and economic resource that receives more wastewater and non-point source contaminants than any other coastal area in the U.S.