Estimating aquatic toxicity as determined through laboratory tests of Great Lakes sediments containing complex mixtures of environmental contaminants

Wildhaber, ML; Schmitt, CJ

HERO ID

1335970

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year

1996

Language

English

PMID

24193399

HERO ID 1335970
In Press No
Year 1996
Title Estimating aquatic toxicity as determined through laboratory tests of Great Lakes sediments containing complex mixtures of environmental contaminants
Authors Wildhaber, ML; Schmitt, CJ
Journal Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
Volume 41
Issue 3
Page Numbers 255-289
Abstract We developed and evaluated a total toxic units modeling approach for predicting mean toxicity as measured in laboratory tests for Great Lakes sediments containing complex mixtures of environmental contaminants (e.g., polychlorinated biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pesticides, chlorinated dioxins, and metals). The approach incorporates equilibrium partitioning and organic carbon control of bioavailability for organic contaminants and acid volatile sulfide (AVS) control for metals, and includes toxic equivalency for planar organic chemicals. A toxic unit is defined as the ratio of the estimated pore-water concentration of a contaminant to the chronic toxicity of that contaminant, as estimated by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Ambient Water Quality Criteria (AWQC). The toxic unit models we developed assume complete additivity of contaminant effects, are completely mechanistic in form, and were evaluated without any a posteriori modification of either the models or the data from which the models were developed and against which they were tested. A linear relationship between total toxic units, which included toxicity attributable to both iron and un-ionized ammonia, accounted for about 88% of observed variability in mean toxicity; a quadratic relationship accounted for almost 94%. Exclusion of either bioavailability components (i.e., equilibrium partitioning control of organic contaminants and AVS control of metals) or iron from the model substantially decreased its ability to predict mean toxicity. A model based solely on un-ionized ammonia accounted for about 47% of the variability in mean toxicity. We found the toxic unit approach to be a viable method for assessing and ranking the relative potential toxicity of contaminated sediments.
Doi 10.1007/BF00419746
Pmid 24193399
Wosid WOS:A1996UV97300005
Is Certified Translation No
Dupe Override No
Comments Authoring Organization: Agency for Toxic Substances and Diseases Registry (ATSDR) Link: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2FBF00419746.pdf
Is Public Yes
Language Text English
Keyword ECOLOGY; FRESH WATER; BODY WATER; BIOCHEMISTRY/METHODS; POISONING; ANIMALS, LABORATORY; ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS/POISONING; OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES; AIR POLLUTION; SOIL POLLUTANTS; WATER POLLUTION; Biochemistry-Physiological Water Studies (1970- ); Biochemical Methods-General; Toxicology-General; Toxicology-Environmental and Industrial Toxicology; Public Health: Environmental Health-Air; 72918-21-9; 70648-26-9; 67562-39-4; 60851-34-5; 57653-85-7; 57117-44-9; 57117-41-6; 57117-31-4; 55673-89-7; 53494-70-5; 53469-21-9; 51207-31-9; 40321-76-4; 39227-28-6; 39001-02-0; 35822-46-9; 33213-65-9; 19408-74-3; 16056-34-1; 12674-11-2; 12672-29-6; 11141-16-5; 11104-28-2; 11097-69-1; 11096-82-5; 8001-35-2; 7782-49-2; 7664-41-7; 7440-66-6; 7440-47-3; 7440-43-9; 7440-38-2; 7440-22-4; 7440-02-0; 7439-97-6; 7439-96-5; 7439-92-1; 7439-89-6; 7421-93-4; 5103-74-2; 5103-71-9; 3268-87-9; 1746-01-6; 1031-07-8; 1024-57-3; 959-98-8; 688-73-3; 541-73-1; 309-00-2; 218-01-9; 208-96-8; 207-08-9; 206-44-0; 193-39-5; 191-24-2; 132-64-9; 131-11-3; 129-00-0; 120-12-7; 117-81-7; 106-46-7; 95-50-1; 91-20-3; 86-73-7; 85-68-7; 85-01-8; 76-44-8; 72-55-9; 72-54-8; 72-43-5; 72-20-8; 60-57-1; 58-89-9; 56-55-3; 50-32-8; 50-29-3
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