Issue 30 - September 2002
Welcome to the Contaminated
Sediments News, a monthly review of recent journal articles, issues
in the press, upcoming conferences, and other news. This website will
replace the Contaminated Sediments Newsletter, which was published
quarterly through the summer of 2000. Items for the CS News are chosen
from the results of a detailed search of a number of scientific and
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Note: The summaries found on this website are based
on articles from the press and from peer-reviewed publications,
and they represent the opinions of the original authors. The views
of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect
those of the United States Government, and shall not be used for
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or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United
States Government.
Current News
Recent Journal Articles of Interest
- Parameters affecting partitioning
of PCB congeners in sediments - The authors performed
experiments to measure PCBs in which bottom sediments were
rtificially resuspended using sediment contaminated with PCBs
(from the Housatonic River in Connecticut) in a particle entrainment
simulator (PES). The results of similar experiments have shown
that mean concentration of PCBs in the solid phase for sites
with high volatile organic carbon (VOC) were significantly
greater than samples with low VOC, while the reverse was true
for the water phase. For this study, partition coefficients
(Kp) were determined from simulations for PCB congeners 28,
52, 101, 138, 153, and 180. Results showed that Kp was determined
to be inversely proportional to total suspended solids (TSS),
but directly proportional to chlorine content of the congener.
The authors conclude that agitation of samples using a PES
is a better method for simulating real environmental conditions
when compared to jar studies with no agitation.
Source: Alkhatib E.; Weigand C.; Parameters affecting
partitioning of 6 PCB congeners in natural sediments. Environmental
Monitoring and Assessment, Vol. 78, Issue 1, August 2002,
Pp. 1-17.
- Normalization procedures
for sediment contaminants - The authors present
a brief overview of normalization procedures for sediment
contaminants, and discuss the methodologies available for
a site-specific normalization approach. General recommendations
are also given regarding the choice of normalizer and the
necessary geochemical and statistical quality assurance methods,
with support from the results of recent international intercomparison
exercises within the Quality Assurance of Sample Handling
(QUASH) program. The authors state that their most important
recommendation is the use of a two-tiered normalization approach
including wet sieving (<63 microm), followed by additional
geochemical co-factor normalization.
Source: Kerste, Michael; Smedes, Foppe. Normalization
procedures for sediment contaminants in spatial and temporal
trend monitoring, Journal of Environmental Monitoring:
JEM, Vol. 4, Issue 1, February 2002, Pp. 109-115.
- Comparative in situ and
laboratory sediment bioassays - This study was
performed in order to compare the results of laboratory assays
with in situ deployments in sediment toxicity assays (conducted
with juvenile Mercenaria mercenaria). The clams were
deployed for one week at a variety of degraded and control
sites in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, over three consecutive
summers. At the same time, lab assays were conducted with
sediments collected from the study sites. Toxicity between
reference and degraded sites was tested using mortality and
a sublethal endpoint, seed clam growth rate. Growth rates
of field-deployed clams tended to be higher than growth rates
for laboratory assays, especially at the reference sites.
Field studies indicated a higher potential for toxicity than
did the laboratory studies at degraded sites. Regression normalization
techniques were used to distinguish the effects of environmental
factors, which might affect growth rates, from those of contaminants.
Based on their results, the authors suggest that lab assays
may underestimate potential sediment toxicity at degraded
sites.
Source: Ringwood, Amy H; Keppler, Charles J. Comparative
in situ and laboratory sediment bioassays with juvenile
Mercenaria mercenaria. Environmental Toxicology and
Chemistry / SETAC, Vol. 21, Issue 8, August 2002, Pp. 1651-1657.
- Characterization of estrogenic
activity of riverine sediments - Researchers evaluated
the suitability of an in vitro bioassay system to detect estrogen
receptor (ER)-mediated activity in river sediment extracts
from an industrialized area in the Czech Republic. Luciferase
activity was used to determine total estrogenic activity.
All sediment samples elicited considerable estrogenic activity,
and the Florisil fraction was the most estrogenic. The results
of mass-balance calculations and testing of fractions confirmed
that certain PAHs or their metabolites were the most likely
compounds contributing to estrogenicity.
Source: Hilscherova, K; Kannan, K; Holoubek, I; Giesy,
J P. Characterization of estrogenic activity of riverine
sediments from the Czech Republic. Archives of Environmental
Contamination and Toxicology, Vol. 43, Issue 2, August 2002,
Pp. 175-185
- An assessment of injury
to sediments and sediment-dwelling organisms in the Grand
Calumet River and Indiana Harbor Area of Concern
- This paper describes the results of a Natural Resource Damage
Assessment (NRDA) conducted in the Grand Calumet River and
Indiana Harbor Area of Concern (IHAOC). The part of the assessment
described here was undertaken to determine if sediments and
sediment-dwelling organisms have been injured due to exposure
to contaminants. To perform the assessment, first information
was compiled on the chemical composition of sediment and pore
water; on the toxicity of whole sediments, pore water, and
elutriates; and on the status of benthic invertebrate communities.
The data on each of these indicators were compared to regionally
relevant benchmarks to assess the presence and extent of injury
to surface water or biological resources. The results indicate
that sediment injury has occurred throughout the assessment
area, and that the primary contaminants of concern include
metals, PAHs, and total PCBs. Other aspects of this NRDA will
be published in separate papers.
Source: MacDonald, D D; Ingersoll, C G; Smorong, D E; Lindskoog,
R A; Sparks, D W; Smith, J R; Simon, T P; Hanacek, M A.
An assessment of injury to sediments and sediment-dwelling
organisms in the Grand Calumet River and Indiana Harbor
Area of Concern, USA. Archives of Environmental Contamination
and Toxicology, Vol. 43, Issue 2, August 2002, Pp. 141-155.
- A levy flight-random walk
model for bioturbation - The authors describe the
results of a lattice model of contaminant migration by bioturbation
in which Levy flights are employed. The model couples burrowing,
foraging, and conveyor-belt feeding with molecular diffusion,
and it correctly predicts a square-root dependence on bioturbation
rates over a wide range of biomass densities. The authors
used the model to predict the effect of bioturbation on the
redistribution of contaminants in laboratory microcosms containing
an oligochaete species. The model also explores sensitivity
of flux and concentration profiles to the specific mechanisms
of bioturbation.
Source: Reible, Danny; Mohanty, Sanat. A. Levy flight-random
walk model for bioturbation. Environmental Toxicology
and Chemistry / SETAC. Vol. 21, Issue 4, April 2002, Pp.
875-881.
- Evaluating the ecological
significance of lab data to predict population-level effects
- This study involved population modeling and empirical extrapolation
to describe a relationship between acute mortality and population-level
response of Ampelisca abdita, an amphipod often used
to evaluate chemical contamination of marine sediments. The
researchers performed a standard 10-d sediment toxicity bioassay
and a 70-d full life-cycle chronic population bioassay exposing
the amphipod to sediments contaminated with cadmium. The data
from these assays was used to parameterize an age-classified
projection matrix model and to develop exposure-response models.
Model manipulations permitted extrapolation of early life-stage
mortality (the acute endpoint) to changes in population growth
rate. These relationships were used to evaluate a range of
ecologically acceptable acute mortality for A. abdita.
Source: Kuhn, Anne; Munns, Wayne R, Jr; Serbst, Jonathan;
Edwards, Phillip; Cantwell, Mark G; Gleason, Timothy; Pelletier,
Marguerite C; Berry, Walter. Evaluating the ecological
significance of laboratory response data to predict population-level
effects for the estuarine amphipod Ampelisca abdita.
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry / SETAC, Vol. 21,
Issue 4, April 2002, Pp. 865-874.
- Effects of contact time
on the sequestration and bioavailability of hydrophobic organic
chemicals - In this study, researchers investigated
the effect of contact time on the bioavailability and sequestration
of different classes of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOC)
by benthic deposit feeders. The researchers measured the steady-state
accumulation into benthic oligochaetes and the distribution
over rapidly and slowly desorbing fractions in laboratory-contaminated
sediment at different contact times. The measured reductions
in bioavailability and sequestration indicated that long contact
times do not necessarily result in pronounced bioavailability
or sequestration reduction. However, for chlorobenzenes, the
bioavailability was greatly reduced, as was sequestration,
which was attributed to losses of rapidly desorbing compounds.
Over 75% of the variation in biota-to-sediment accumulation
factors (BSAFs) of the PAHs and chlorobenzenes could be explained
by differences in rapidly desorbing fractions. The authors
conclude that this study provides evidence of a relationship
between sequestration status and bioavailability of HOC to
benthic deposit feeders.
Source: Kraaij, Rik H; Tolls, Johannes; Sum, Dick; Cornelissen,
Gerard; Heikens, Alex; Belfroid, Angelique. Effects of
contact time on the sequestration and bioavailability of
different classes of hydrophobic organic chemicals to benthic
oligochaetes (Tubificidae). Environmental Toxicology
and Chemistry / SETAC, Vol. 21, Issue 4, April 2002, Pp.
752-759.
- Kinetics of PCB dechlorination
by Hudson River sediment microorganisms - The authors
investigated the kinetics of PCB dechlorination by Hudson
River sediment microorganisms using Aroclor 1242 at 10 different
concentrations (ranging from 0 to 900 ppm). Results showed
the dechlorination rate was a linear function of PCB concentrations,
similar to the dechlorination of Aroclor 1248 by sediment
microorganisms from the St. Lawrence River; however, the rate
was much slower for the Hudson River study. The threshold
concentration below which no dechlorination occurs was three
time higher than that for the dechlorination of Aroclor 1248.
Dechlorinating microorganisms did not show any significant
growth until late in the lag phase of dechlorination, and
their maximum was greater at higher initial Aroclor 1242 concentrations.
Although dechlorination rates were significantly lower with
the Hudson River study, when normalized to the maximum number
of dechlorinating organisms, they were not significantly different
from those for Aroclor 1248 by St. Lawrence River microorganisms.
Thus, the authors conclude that these results further support
the idea that PCB dechlorination is tightly linked to the
growth of dechlorinating microorganisms.
Source: Cho, Young-Cheol; Sokol, Roger C; Rhee, G-Yull.
Kinetics of polychlorinated biphenyl dechlorination by
Hudson River, New York, USA, sediment microorganisms.
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry / SETAC, Vol. 21,
Issue 4, April 2002, Pp. 715-719.
- Comparison of the transport
and fate of PCBs in three Great Lakes food webs
- This study compared fate and transport of PCB congeners
in three food webs in the Great Lakes, by using a food web
bioaccumulation model. The model was used to quantify the
contribution of sediment-derived and freely dissolved PCBs
to the body burden of aquatic biota. In eastern Lake Erie,
almost 100% of the chemical body burden of biota originates
from sediment, while in western Lake Erie, benthic invertebrates
accumulated slightly more than half of their PCB body burden
from sediment while fish accumulated less than half of their
chemical body burden from sediment. Fish from Lake Ontario,
Canada, accumulated less than 30% of their body burden of
PCB congeners from sediment and approximately half of their
body burden of PCB congeners from sediment. The researchers
used field data and the model to determine the effects of
declining concentrations of PCBs in water and sediment on
concentrations of PCBs in aquatic biota. Results of the study
indicated that as concentrations of PCB congeners in the ecosystem
decline, the role of sediment as the source of contaminant
to aquatic biota increases.
Source: Morrison, Heather A; Whittle, D Michael; Haffner,
G Douglas. A comparison of the transport and fate of
polychlorinated biphenyl congeners in three Great Lakes
food webs. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry /
SETAC, Vol. 21, Issue 4, April 2002, Pp. 683-692.
- Predicting bioavailability
and bioaccumulation with in vitro digestive fluid extraction
- The researchers measured bioavailability of sediment-associated
contaminants by using a bivalve bioaccumulation assay and
an in vitro digestive fluid extraction procedure. Digestive
fluid was obtained from a deposit-feeding polychaete and used
to extract sediments from a U.S. Navy facility. Both the digestive
fluid extraction and the bivalve bioaccumulation test identified
cadmium, lead, PAHs, and PCBs as the contaminants of concern.
For cadmium and lead, the concentration in digestive fluid
during a brief extraction was highly correlated with concentration
attained in the bivalve after a 28-d exposure. Bulk sediment
concentrations were also found to be good predictors of bioaccumulation
because of minimal differences in bioavailability from the
most contaminated sediments. The authors conclude that in
vitro contaminant extraction with the digestive fluid assay
has potential as a screening tool to predict relative bioaccumulation
risk.
Source: Weston, Donald P; Maruya, Keith A. Predicting
bioavailability and bioaccumulation with in vitro digestive
fluid extraction. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
/ SETAC, Vol. 21, Issue 5, May 2002, Pp. 962-971.
- Distribution of cytochrome
P4501A1-inducing chemicals in sediments from Delaware Bay
- This NOAA study was undertaken to document the occurrence
and distribution of cytochrome P450 (CYP) 1A1-inducing compounds
in the Delaware River-Bay system. Chemical and biological
analyses, including the use of the biomarker P450 human reporter
gene system (HRGS), were used. Sediment extracts from 81 locations
along the Delaware River, Delaware Bay and immediate coastline
were tested by utilizing HRGS as an inexpensive screening
test, and were also analyzed for PAHs and PCBs. The HRGS values
were highly correlated with total PAHs measured in the same
sediment samples. Results showed that overall, contamination
levels consistently decreased from the upper and middle river
sites as collection locations progressed down through the
lower river and bay to the coast. Even though the river has
a high contaminant load, results indicate that Delaware Bay
and the immediate coastline have relatively low levels of
contaminants. The authors conclude that based on these findings,
impacts on the benthic organisms in the bay and coast would
not be expected.
Source: McCoy, Daniel L; Jones, Jennifer M; Anderson, Jack
W; Harmon, Michelle; Hartwell, Ian; Hameedi, Jawed. Distribution
of cytochrome P4501A1-inducing chemicals in sediments of
the Delaware River-Bay system, USA. Environmental Toxicology
and Chemistry / SETAC, Vol. 21, Issue 8, August 2002, Pp.
1618-1627.
- Distribution of chlorinated
hydrocarbons in overlying water, sediment, polychaete, and
fish from Southern California - DDTs and PCBs are
a major source of concern in the Southern California Bight
area. The authors of this study found that DDTs and PCBs remained
widely distributed in the overlying water, sediment, polychaetes,
and liver and muscle tissues of the hornyhead turbot (Pleuronichthys
Verticalis) collected from three nearshore locations with
different levels of contamination. Results of the statistical
analyses conducted for this study suggest that contaminated
sediments may have become an important source of contamination.
Source: Zeng, Eddy Y; Tran, Kim. Distribution of chlorinated
hydrocarbons in overlying water, sediment, polychaete, and
hornyhead turbot (Pleuronichthys verticalis) in the coastal
ocean, Southern California, USA. Environmental Toxicology
and Chemistry / SETAC, Vol. 21, Issue 8, August 2002, Pp.
1600-1608.
- Bioremediation of PAH-contaminated
sediments in aerated bioslurry reactors - This
study employed 0.5 m3-scale slurry-phase bioreactors to determine
whether bioaugmentation with a PAH-degradative bacterial consortium,
or with the salt marsh grass S. alterniflora, could
enhance the biodegradation of PAHs added to dredged estuarine
sediments from the NY/NJ Harbor. In all bioreactors a rapid
reduction of greater than 95% of the initial phenanthrene,
acenaphthene, and fluorene occurred within 14 days. Pyrene
and fluoranthene reductions of 70 to 90% were achieved after
77 days., while anthracene was reduced from 30 to 85%. These
results were compared to biodegradation effected by the indigenous
sediment microbial community, in which separate experiments
showed that the sediment microbial communities mineralized
14C-pyrene and 14C-phenanthrene. PAH degradation, and the
number of phenanthrene-degrading bacteria, were not enhanced
by microbial or plant bioaugmentation. These results show
that bioaugmentation is not required for efficient remediation
of PAH-contaminated sediments in slurry-phase bioreactors.
Source: Loren A. Launen, Vincent H. Buggs, Michael E. Eastep,
Rica C. Enriquez, Joseph W. Leonard, Michael J. Blaylock,
Jian-Wei Huang and Max M. Häggblom.Bioremediation
of polyaromatic hydrocarbon-contaminated sediments in aerated
bioslurry reactors. Bioremediation Journal, Vol. 6,
Issue 2, Pp. 125-141.
- An assessment of in vitro
androgenic activity and the identification of environmental
androgens - In this study, a yeast-based androgen
screen (YAS) was used to determine the level of in vitro androgenic
activity in surface water, sediment pore water, and sediment
particulate samples from seven United Kingdom estuaries. High
levels of androgenic activity were determined in the solvent
extracts of sediments, with 10 of 39 samples exhibiting a
level of androgenic activity >454 ng DHT/kg. In vitro YAS
testing of five selected sewage treatment works effluents
entering these estuaries showed that measurable levels of
androgenic activity were observed in those receiving only
primary treatment. A toxicity identification evaluation study
of effluent from one site identified the natural steroids/steroid
metabolites dehydrotestosterone, androstenedione, androstanedione,
5beta-androstane-3alpha,11beta-diol-17-one, androsterone,
and epi-androsterone as responsible for 99% of the in vitro
activity determined in the effluent.
Source: Thomas, Kevin V; Hurst, Mark R; Matthiessen, Peter;
McHugh, Mathew; Smith, Andy; Waldock, Michael J. An assessment
of in vitro androgenic activity and the identification of
environmental androgens in United Kingdom estuaries.
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry / SETAC, Vol. 21,
Issue 7, July 2002, Pp. 1456-1461.
- Use of constrained DET
probe for a high-resolution determination of metals and anions
in pore water - This study employed a constrained
diffusive equilibrium in thin films (DET) probe filled with
agarose gel to measure depth profiles of metals and anions
in estuarine sediments at high-resolution. Equilibration time
between an aqueous solution and the agarose gel was reached
after 60 min for manganese, but in the presence of humic acids
it was five times longer; as a result, for field applications
a deployment time of 5¯24 h was applied. The subsequent elution
of manganese into nitric acid was completed in less than 10
min. For agarose gel in contact with solutions of ions (cadmium,
copper and manganese, bromide, chloride, nitrate and sulfate),
recoveries obtained were close to 100%. The researchers applied
DET probes in test laboratory sediment and established depth
profiles for 19 elements (Ag, As, Ba, Bi, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu,
Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, Sr, Tl, V, and Zn) and four anions
(bromide, chloride, nitrate and sulfate). In the real sediment
in the Authie (France) estuary, the pore water concentrations
of iron and manganese using gel probes were comparable with
those obtained by a conventional method.
Source: H. Doekalová, O. Clarisse, S. Salomon and
M. Wartel. Use of constrained DET probe for a high-resolution
determination of metals and anions distribution in the sediment
pore water. Talanta, Vo. 57, Issue 1, 22 April 2002,
Pp. 145-155.
- Resuspension, reactivity
and recycling of trace metals in the Mersey Estuary, UK
- The authors used four high-resolution axial transects to
measure distributions of dissolved and non-detrital particulate
Cd, Co, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn from the Mersey Estuary, UK. All
dissolved metal concentrations displayed positive deviations,
with the exception of copper. Magnitudes of dissolved metal
peaks reflected the extent of metal enrichment in fine bed
sediment compared with suspended particulate matter (SPM),
a result which suggester that addition of dissolved metal
was effected primarily by desorption from resuspendable bed
particles. Results of an empirical sorption model indicated
that bed sediment need only be moderately enriched in trace
metal compared with SPM to cause measurable addition of dissolved
metal to the overlying water column. The authors propose that
resuspension of metal-enriched, fine bed sediment may be a
significant route for metal remobilisation in contaminated,
turbid estuaries.
Source: M. Martino, A. Turner, M. Nimmo and G. E. Millward.
Resuspension, reactivity and recycling of trace metals
in the Mersey Estuary, UK. Marine Chemistry, Vol. 77,
Issues 2-3, February 2002, Pp. 171-186.
Upcoming Conferences and Events
- International Symposium
on Sediment Quality Assessments - The Fifth International
Symposium on Sediment Quality Assessments will be held October
16-18, 2002 in Chicago, Illinois. This symposium is the
fifth in a series being organized by the Aquatic Ecosystem
Health & Management Society (AEHMS).
The five principal areas for the 2002 conference are:
Sediment Transport and Contaminant Flux
Sediments and Watershed Management
Microbial Pathogens: Are Sediments A Risk?
Weight of Evidence and Risk-Based Decision Making
Emerging Technologies for Assessment and Remediation of
Sediment
-
13th Annual
West Coast Conference on Contaminated Soils, Sediments
& Water - Conference will be held March
17-20, 2003 at the Marriott Mission Valley, San Diego,
California. For more information visit the website:
www.aehs.com/conferences/westcoast.
- 18th International Conference
on Contaminated Soils, Sediments & Water - The
18th Annual International Conference on Contaminated Soils,
Sediments & Water will be held October 21-24, 2002 in Amherst,
Massachusetts. The theme of this year's conference is "Expediting
and Economizing Cleanups," and live equipment demonstrations
will augment the exhibition section. Visit the conference
website www.umasssoils.com
for more information.
- Second International
Conference on the Remediation of Contaminated Sediments
- The Second International Sediment Remediation
Conference will be held in the autumn of 2003 in Venice,
Italy. Organizers say the city is an ideal setting for a
conference on this topic because of the sediments remediation
efforts being exerted there by the local, regional, and
national governments. The Call for Abstracts brochure is
expected to be available in July 2002, and abstracts to
be considered for the program will be due in December 2002.
To request a copy of the Call for Abstracts, visit the Sediment
Remediation Conference website.
- Coastal Sediments 2003
- Coastal Sediments '03 is a multi-disciplinary international
conference convened for researchers and practitioners to
discuss science and engineering issues of coastal sediment
processes. The conference will be held May 18-23, 2003 in
Clearwater Beach, Florida. Visit the website for more information:
www.coastalsediments.net
- 2nd International Symposium
on Contaminated Sediments - Subtitled "Characterisation,
Evaluation, Mitigation/Restoration, Management Strategy,
and Performance." Conference to be held May 26-28, 2003
Quebec City, Canada. Visit the website
for more information.
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