Derivation of sediment Hg quality standards based on ecological assessment in river basins

Méndez-Fernández, Leire; Casado-Martínez, Carmen; Moreno-Ocio, Iñigo; Costas, Noemi; Pardo, Isabel; Rodríguez, Pilar

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2018.11.068

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…According to Reference [14], if the TEL derived from field data for a given metal is lower than the quality standard derived from spiked-sediment toxicity tests, there might be the case of increasing the level of protection of the quality standard derived from spiked-sediment toxicity tests, given that field data are reliable. For example, the TEL oligo is the lowest among the effect data available for Hg and lower than the quality standard derived from spiked-sediment toxicity tests for this metal [36], meaning that the quality standard of Hg may not be protective for oligochaete communities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect Thresholds of Metals in Stream Sediments Based on In Situ Oligochaete Communities

et al. 2020

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Aquatic oligochaetes, comprising a large number of species showing various degrees of resistance to chemical pollution, are recognized as valuable bioindicators of sediments’ quality. In the Geneva area (Switzerland), oligochaete tools were previously tested for assessing the biological quality of stream sediments, and effect thresholds of combined metals (quotients) in sediments were defined. The aims of the present study were to update this previous work with new data acquired in different cantons of Switzerland and to establish effect thresholds on oligochaete communities for individual metals and for combined metals. The oligochaete metrics “Oligochaete index of sediment bioindication (IOBS)”, “oligochaete density” and “percentage of tubificids without hair setae” proved pertinent for assessing the effects of metals and organic matter in sediments. We established a threshold effect level (TELoligo) and probable effect level (PELoligo) for eight metals in sediments (Cr, Ni, Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd, Hg and As) as well as a probable effect level for these metals combined (mPELoligo-Q). These thresholds could be used directly to screen for alteration of in situ communities restricted to sediments and/or for establishing sediment quality standards based on a combination of different biological and ecotoxicological tools.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect Thresholds of Metals in Stream Sediments Based on In Situ Oligochaete Communities

et al. 2020

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“…Species sensitivity distribution (SSD) has been extensively used to derive environmental quality criterion or hazard concentration of chemicals in different environments (Karthikeyan et al, 2021;Méndez-Fernández et al, 2019;Posthuma et al, 2001). In this study, we relied on the acute toxicity endpoints provided by ECOTOX to construct the SSDs for the priority PAHs (EPA, 1979;Keith, 2015), and leveraged them to derive the corresponding hazard concentrations in aquatic environments (Methods; Figure 2; Table S12).…”

Section: Species Sensitivity Distribution For Epa Priority Pahsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Network-based investigation of petroleum hydrocarbons-induced ecotoxicological effects and their risk assessment

Sahoo,

Madgaonkar,

Chivukula

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Petroleum hydrocarbons (PHs) are compounds composed mostly of carbon and hydrogen, originating from crude oil and its derivatives. PHs are primarily released into the environment through the diffusion of oils, resulting from anthropogenic activities like transportation and offshore drilling, and accidental incidents such as oil spills. Once released, these PHs can persist in different ecosystems and cause long-term detrimental ecological impacts. While the hazards associated with such PH contaminations are often assessed by the concentrations of total petroleum hydrocarbons in the environment, studies focusing on the risks associated with individual PHs are limited. Here, we leveraged different network-based frameworks to explore and understand the adverse ecological effects associated with PH exposure. First, we systematically curated a list of 320 PHs from published reports. Next, we integrated biological endpoint data from toxicological databases, and constructed a stressor-centric adverse outcome pathway (AOP) network linking 75 PHs with 177 ecotoxicologically-relevant high confidence AOPs within AOP-Wiki. Further, we relied on stressor-species network constructions, based on reported toxicity concentrations and bioconcentration factors data for 80 PHs and 28 PHs, respectively, and found that crustaceans are documented to be affected by many of these PHs. Finally, we utilized the aquatic toxicity data within ECOTOX to construct species sensitivity distributions for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) prioritized by the US EPA, and derived their corresponding hazard concentrations (HC05) that protect 95% of species in the aquatic ecosystem. Overall, this study highlights the importance of using network-based approaches and risk assessment methods to understand the PH-induced toxicities effectively.

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Developing As and Cu Tissue Residue Thresholds to Attain the Good Ecological Status of Rivers in Mining Areas

Moreno-Ocio

Méndez-Fernández

Costas

et al. 2022

Arch Environ Contam Toxicol

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The study was performed on residue-effects datasets from polluted and unpolluted sites in the Nalón River basin (northern Spain). The effects were measured in terms of alteration of field macroinvertebrate communities, and measured as ecological status scores, and number of families and abundance of Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (EPT). Non-linear regression models of the field-measured tissue residues in 10 taxa related to the ecological status of the macroinvertebrate communities were used to derive effective tissue residues (ERs). These were estimated for the good/moderate boundary defined by the ecological quality ratio (EQRs) score and for the 50% reduction of EQR and EPT metrics. As, Cu, Hg and Se ERs were calculated for several macroinvertebrate taxa with different feeding styles. The ER dataset allowed us to estimate As and Cu hazardous concentrations (HC), using species sensitivity distribution models, and were interpreted as community thresholds. Further studies for Hg and Se are needed to complete the database required for HC estimation. The reliability and differences of the several thresholds were tested in a risk assessment using a tissue-residue approach (TRA) conducted with field organisms from Cauxa Creek, a tributary from the same basin exposed to high levels of metals in the sediments due to gold mining activities. This risk assessment identified that As and Cu tissue residues satisfactorily explained the reduction in the ecological status of the macroinvertebrate assemblages. Our results indicate that TRA can help in setting future environmental quality standards for the protection of aquatic biota. Graphical Abstract

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Derivation of sediment Hg quality standards based on ecological assessment in river basins

Cited by 7 publications

References 34 publications

Effect Thresholds of Metals in Stream Sediments Based on In Situ Oligochaete Communities

Effect Thresholds of Metals in Stream Sediments Based on In Situ Oligochaete Communities

Network-based investigation of petroleum hydrocarbons-induced ecotoxicological effects and their risk assessment

Developing As and Cu Tissue Residue Thresholds to Attain the Good Ecological Status of Rivers in Mining Areas

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