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USEFULNESS OF CURRENT SEDIMENT TOXICITY TESTS TO INDICATE CONTAMINATION IN GULF OF MEXICO ESTUARIES.
Citation:
Lewis, M A., R S. Stanley, C B. Daniels, AND D. E. Weber. USEFULNESS OF CURRENT SEDIMENT TOXICITY TESTS TO INDICATE CONTAMINATION IN GULF OF MEXICO ESTUARIES. Presented at ASTM Eleventh Symposium on Environmental Toxicology and Risk Assessment: New Models for Environmental Management - The High Production Volume (HPV) Chemical Challenge, Phoenix, AZ, 2-4 April 2001.
Description:
Sediment toxicity evaluations were conducted during a three-year period in several Gulf of Mexico near-coastal areas using a variety of laboratory and field methods. The sediments were collected adjacent to Superfund sites, urban runoff discharges, treated municipal and industrial wastewater outfalls, coastal golf courses and dredged areas. The acute effects of the sediments were determined using standard toxicity test and a total of eight animal and plant test species. Chronic toxicity was determined using early seedling growth of macrophytic plants, genotoxicity and other sublethal effects. The sediment toxicity tests were conducted on multiple occasions (up to 16 times) for sediments collected at the same site but at different times to determine temporal variation in response. The results of the acute toxicity tests show invertebrates to be the more sensitive species tested and fish the least. There was a broad range in the sensitivities of the recommended amphipod test species which indicates the necessity of using more than one test species. Tests monitoring genotoxic effects and reproductive effects on Leptocheirus plumulosus were the more sensitive. Overall, the currently recommended test species in standard sediment toxicity tests are not commonly found in the Gulf, and there is a need to develop tests that utilize species that are more relevant to this region. Of these, the need for suitable plant species is high, considering the ever increasing seagrass and wetland reductions in Gulf coastal areas which may be attributable, in part, to toxic sediments.