The Potential for Biological Effects of Sediments-Sorbed Contaminants Tested in the National Status and Trends Program
Date
1990-03
Authors
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Publisher
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admininistration
Abstract
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOM) annually collects and chemically analyzes sediment samples from sites located in
coastal marine and estuarine environments throughout the United States as a part of the National Status and Trends (NS&T) Program. While the chemical data provide indications of the relative degrees of contamination among the sampling sites, they provide neither a measure of adverse biological effects nor an estimate of the potential for effects. Data derived
from a wide variety of methods and approaches were assembled and evaluated to identify informal guidelines for use in evaluation of the NS&T
Program sediment data. The data from three basic approaches to the establishment of effects-based criteria were evaluated: the equilibrium-partitioning approach, the spiked-sediment bioassay approach, and various methods of evaluating synoptically collected biological and chemical data in field surveys. The chemical concentrations observed or predicted by the
different methods to be associated with biological effects were sorted, and the lower 10 percentile and median concentrations were identified along with an overall apparent effects threshold. The lower 10 percentile in the data
was identified as an Effects Range-Low (ER-L) and the median was identified as an Effects Range-Median (ER-MI. Note that these ER-L and
ER-M values are not to be construed as NOAA standards or criteria. The ambient NS&T Program sediment data from sampling sites were compared
with the respective ER-L and ER-M values for each analyte. The comparisons were used to rank sites with regard to the potential for adverse biological effects, assuming that the sites in which the average chemical
concentrations exceeded the most ER-L and ER-M values would have the highest potential for effects. The rankings indicated that a sampling site located in the Hudson-Raritan estuary had the highest potential for effects, followed by a site located in Boston Harbor, a site located in western Long Island Sound, and a site located in the Oakland estuary of San Francisco
Bay.
Description
Keywords
biological effects, sediment -sorbed contaminents, National Status and Trend Program