A guidance for the assessment and evaluation of sediment quality a German Approach based on ecotoxicological and chemical measurements

Ahlf, Wolfgang; Hollert, Henner; Neumann-Hensel, Helga; Ricking, Mathias

doi:10.1007/bf02991249

Cited by 109 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Even if the dredged material is only slightly contaminated, bioavailability, concentration in the food chain as well as long-term and combined effects of contaminants may still be an issue [42]. As the dredged material only obtains minimal contamination, an absence of data suitable for MCDA analysis occurred.…”

Section: Social Criteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sustainable decision making under uncertainty: a case study in dredged material management

Scheffler

Roth²,

Ahlf

2014

Environ Sci Eur

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Background: The port of Lübeck is one of Germany's most important harbours for goods traffic to and from the Baltic Sea Region. Sedimentation from the River Trave requires regularly maintenance dredging as well as capital dredging operations in order to maintain the operational capability of the port. A range of solutions for sustainable dredged material handling exist and an assessment of these options often proves to be challenging for decision makers. Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) provides decision support by processing different data sets and evaluating suitable options in a rational way. Using the stochastic multi-criteria acceptability analysis (SMAA)-TRI method with a modification of a previously developed computerised model for decision support in dredged material management, this study was performed to test decision support under uncertainty. Results: The analysis endorsed that relocation to a dredged discharge pool and capping of an ammunition disposal site are viable options for Lübeck port. On the other hand, the use of dredged material from port expansion and its disposal on land are considered to be of very low sustainability under the given circumstances. Conclusions: The case study demonstrates capabilities as well as boundaries of computer-aided decision making under the premise of incomplete information. Despite uncertainties, sustainable decision making is possible with appropriate MCDA methodologies although minimum requirements concerning both data quality and data quantity must be fulfilled. Consequently, one possible alternative could not be integrated into the case study due to incomplete information.

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Section: Social Criteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As sediment quality, Class ecotoxicology 1 according to [42] was assumed, meaning that there are no or low eco-toxicological effects. Another model assumption was the materials' physicochemical suitability for the alternatives capping of ammunition disposal site and habitat enhancement via relocation to dredge discharge pool.…”

Section: Model Assumptionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable decision making under uncertainty: a case study in dredged material management

Scheffler

Roth²,

Ahlf

2014

Environ Sci Eur

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“…It is hypothesized that this distribution may relate with a sedimentation effect in the reservoir. Surface sediments are frequently a sink for persistent organic pollutants and EDCs in riverine environments (Ahlf et al 2002;Forstner and Westrich 2005;Labadie et al 2007;Vigano et al 2006;Peck et al 2004;Wang et al 2011). The sediment load in the Yangtze River is 500 Mt (1 Mt=1,000,000 t) year −1 (Zhang 1995).…”

Section: Profile Of Ahr and Er Activities In Tgr Sedimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, parts of the pollutants settle with deposition of suspended solids and enter into sediments (Wang et al 2013). Thus, sediments have been recognized as both a major sink and a potential source for persistent toxic chemicals in aquatic systems (Ahlf et al 2002;Forstner and Westrich 2005) and are well known to negatively affect aquatic organism (Karlsson et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) inducers and estrogen receptor (ER) activities in surface sediments of Three Gorges Reservoir, China evaluated with in vitro cell bioassays

Wang

Bovee²,

et al. 2013

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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Two types of biological tests were employed for monitoring the toxicological profile of sediment cores in the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR), China. In the present study, sediments collected in June 2010 from TGR were analyzed for estrogen receptor (ER)-and aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR)-mediated activities. The estrogenic activity was assessed using a rapid yeast estrogen bioassay, based on the expression of a green fluorescent reporter protein. Weak anti-estrogenic activity was detected in sediments from an area close to the dam of the reservoir, and weak estrogenic activities ranging from 0.3 to 1 ng 17β-estradiol (E2) equivalents (EQ) g −1 dry weight sediment (dw) were detected in sediments from the Wanzhou to Guojiaba areas. In the upstream areas Wanzhou and Wushan, sediments demonstrated additive effects in coadministration of 1 nM E2 in the yeast test system, while sediments from the downstream Badong and Guojiaba areas showed estrogenic activities which seemed to be more than additive (synergistic activity). There was an increasing tendency in estrogenic activity from upstream of TGR to downstream, while this tendency terminated and converted into anti-estrogenic activity in the area close to the dam. The AhR activity was detected employing rat hepatoma cell line (H4IIE). EROD activities were found homogenously distributed in sediments in TGR ranging from 200 to 311 pg 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p -dioxin (TCDD) EQ g −1 dw for total AhR agonists and from 45 to 76 pg TCDD EQ g −1 dw for more persistent AhR agonists. The known AhR agonists polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, polychlorinated biphenyl, and PCDD/F only explained up to 8 % of the more persistent AhR agonist activity in the samples, which suggests that unidentified AhR-active compounds represented a great proportion of the TCDD EQ in sediments from TGR. These findings of estrogenic potential and dioxin-like activity in TGR sediments provide possible weight-of-evidence of potential ecotoxicological causes for the declines in fish populations which have been observed during the past decades in TGR.

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“…However, it is now generally accepted that there are potential limitations of regulating inputs of effluents and conducting risk assessments based solely on estimates derived from chemical profiling. Routine chemical monitoring alone does not take into account bioavailability, temporal changes in exposure or the interactive effects of pollutants, and the extent of sampling is often limited by cost (Ahlf et al, 2002;Chu and Chow, 2002). To overcome these limitations, complementary bioassay techniques have been developed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of the Ulva pertusa bioassay for a toxicity identification evaluation and reduction of effluent from a wastewater treatment plant

Kim

Han²,

Kim

et al. 2015

Front. Environ. Sci.

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A toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) based on Ulva pertusa spore release was conducted in 3 phases for the identification of the major toxicants in effluent from a wastewater treatment plant (WTP) and the receiving water in an adjacent stream. The toxicity of the final effluent (FE), as compared with raw wastewater, and primary and secondary effluent, showed a greater change over 12-monthly sampling events and appeared to have impacts on the toxicity of the downstream water with a significant correlation (r 2 = 0.89, p < 0.01). In Phase I, toxicity characterization indicated that cations were likely to be the responsible toxicants for the FE. In Phase II, cations such as Cu, Ni, and Zn were found in the FE at higher concentrations than the EC 50 concentrations determined for the standard corresponding metals. When the concentrations of each metal in the FE samples were plotted against the respective toxicity units, only zinc showed a statistically significant correlation with toxicity (r 2 = 0.86, p < 0.01). In Phase III, using spiking and mass balance approaches, it was confirmed that Zn was the major toxicant in the effluent from the WTP. Following a change in the Fenton reagent used, to one with a lower Zn content, the toxicity of the FE greatly decreased in subsequent months. The TIE developed here enabled the toxicity of FEs of the WTP to be tracked and for Zn, originating from a reagent used for Fenton treatment, to be successfully identified as the key toxicant. The TIE method based on U. pertusa demonstrated utility as a low cost and simple tool to identify the risk factors for industrial effluents and provided information on regulatory control and management.

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A guidance for the assessment and evaluation of sediment quality a German Approach based on ecotoxicological and chemical measurements

Cited by 109 publications

References 16 publications

Sustainable decision making under uncertainty: a case study in dredged material management

Sustainable decision making under uncertainty: a case study in dredged material management

Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) inducers and estrogen receptor (ER) activities in surface sediments of Three Gorges Reservoir, China evaluated with in vitro cell bioassays

Application of the Ulva pertusa bioassay for a toxicity identification evaluation and reduction of effluent from a wastewater treatment plant

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