PT08 Chronic and Sublethal Sediment Toxicity
Exhibit Hall
8:00 AM - Tuesday
(PT132) Comparison of methods for evaluating chronic toxicity in marine sediments.
Greenstein, D1, Bay, S1, Anderson, B2, Phillips, B2, Chandler, G3, Farrar, J4, Ringwood, A5, Keppler, C6, 1 Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, Westminster, CA, USA2 University of California Davis, Monterey, CA, USA3 University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA4 US Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Vicksburg, MS, USA5 University of North Carolina Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA6 Marine Resources Research Institute, Charleston, SC, USA
ABSTRACT- The State of California is developing sediment quality objectives that are expected to include measurements of acute and chronic sediment toxicity. Acute sediment toxicity methods are well established and commonly used, however chronic testing methods have been used on a much more limited basis in California. This study was designed to compare several available chronic protocols and guide the selection of methods for use in California. Sediment samples were collected from bays and estuaries in the Southern California Bight and from San Francisco Bay. Split samples from 15 stations were distributed to four laboratories for testing using six methods: a sediment-water interface method with sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) or mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) embryos; a benthic copepod (Amphiascus tenuiremus) life cycle test; a polychaete (Neanthes arenaceodentata) survival and growth test; an amphipod (Leptocheirus plumulosus) survival, growth and reproduction test, a larval clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) survival and growth test; and an oyster (Crassostrea virginica) lysosomal destabilization assay. Sediment from each station was also tested using acute methods with two species of amphipod (Eohaustorius estuarius and Leptocheirus plumulosus). Sediment metals and organics, grain size and benthic infaunal communities were analyzed for each station. There was a wide range of results for the samples with between 8 and 80% of the stations being found to be toxic by the various methods. Each station was found to be toxic by at least one method and no station was found to be toxic by more than five of the six chronic methods. Relationships among the toxicity, chemistry and grain size data are presented.
Key words: sediment, chronic toxicity, sub-lethal, acute toxicity