Deriving Sediment Quality Guidelines from Field-Based Species Sensitivity Distributions

Abstract

The determination of predicted no-effect concentrations (PNECs) and sediment quality guidelines (SQGs) of toxic chemicals in marine sediment is extremely important in ecological risk assessment. However, current methods of deriving sediment PNECs or threshold effect levels (TELs) are primarily based on laboratory ecotoxicity bioassays that may not be ecologically and environmentally relevant. This study explores the possibility of utilizing field data of benthic communities and contaminant loadings concurrently measured in sediment samples collected from the Norwegian continental shelf to derive SQGs. This unique dataset contains abundance data for ca. 2200 benthic species measured at over 4200 sampling stations, along with co-occurring concentration data for >25 chemical species. Using barium, cadmium, and total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as examples, this paper describes a novel approach that makes use of the above data set for constructing field-based species sensitivity distributions (f-SSDs). Field-based SQGs are then derived based on the f-SSDs and HCx values [hazardous concentration for x% of species or the (100 − x)% protection level] by the nonparametric bootstrap method. Our results for Cd and total PAHs indicate that there are some discrepancies between the SQGs currently in use in various countries and our field-data-derived SQGs. The field-data-derived criteria appear to be more environmentally relevant and realistic. Here, we suggest that the f-SSDs can be directly used as benchmarks for probabilistic risk assessment, while the field-data-derived SQGs can be used as site-specific guidelines or integrated into current SQGs.

Approaches for Derivation of Environmental Quality Criteria for Substances Applied in Risk Assessment of Discharges from Offshore Drilling Operations

“…Thus, the apparently large variation in Fig. 4 a and b and relatively poor 'fit' to the regression lines is probably an accurate representation of the response of the species in the field (Leung, et al 2005). Since mean maximum is evaluated from changes in abundance at the center and not near the maxima, it may be argued that the response data are actually closer to EC25 than EC50 (Fig 4.2.b versus Fig.…”

“…Associates, Canada; personal communication in Leung et al, 2005). Also nontoxic metals such as Fe may affect the toxicity of resident sediment metals (Rule and Alden, 1996).…”

Water quality guidelines for chemicals: learning lessons to deliver meaningful environmental metrics

“…through the use of limiting functions, such as piece-wise or quantile regression; Crane et al 2007). The derivation, validation, and acceptance of WQGs is further complicated through the conundrum that WQGs are generally derived using laboratory toxicity tests by exposing a species or a group of species to a single chemical stressor, while in reality, various species in a community are simultaneously exposed to multiple toxicants and stressors (although often field-based data will reflect multiple exposures and stressors; Leung et al 2005;Peters et al 2011). …”

Sensitivity of native and non-native mollusc species to changing river water temperature and salinity

“…We chose to accept the limitations of field data for reasons of data availability, as laboratory data for temperature tolerance were available for only six mollusc species and several species groups (e.g., Sphaeriidae and Unionidae) are only rarely the subject of physiological research. Moreover, other authors suggest that tolerance levels derived from field data may be more environmentally relevant and realistic than reference levels obtained in laboratory tests (Kwok et al 2008;Leung et al 2005;Struijs et al 2011). …”