Sediment Quality Criteria For Metals: II. Review of Methods For Quantitative Determination of Important Adsorbents and Sorbed Metals in Sediments

Abstract

This report is one in a series of reports that collectively describe an approach for establishing sediment criteria for metals. The approach uses surface complexation constants in conjunction with estimates of sorbed metals and the quantities of important adsorbents to estimate the equilibrium activity of metals in the pore water of sediments. This estimate of metal activity in pore water will then be used to evaluate the potential toxicity of the sediments to benthic organisms.