A Critical Comparison of Different Approaches to S

Authors: Ronaldo J Torres Augusto Cesar Victor A Pastor Camilo D S Pereira Rodrigo B Choueri Fernando S Cortez Rodofley D Morais Denis M S Abessa Marcos R L do Nascimento Cassia R Morais Pedro S Fadini Tomas A Del Valls Casillas Antônio A Mozeto

Publish Date: 2014/11/15

Volume: 68, Issue: 1, Pages: 132-147

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Abstract

This study focuses on the discussion of different lines of evidence LoEs applied to a sedimentquality assessment that considered the following chemical concentrations of metals polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons PAHs in estuarine waters sediments and oysters native and caged Crassostrea brasiliana PAHs in semipermeable membrane devices SPMDs simultaneously extracted metalsacid volatile sulfides SEMAVS benthic community assessment the exploratory benthic index and the relative benthic index chronic toxicity tests with the sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus and bioaccumulation models Significantly contaminated sediments from the Santos Estuarine System and the consequent toxicity of tested organisms were measured Caged oysters presented bioaccumulation rates ≤2500  of total PAH content and 200  of metal content when compared with control organisms from an uncontaminated area SPMD results presented the same bioaccumulation pattern as caged oysters but at lower concentrations Benthic communities presented some alterations and there was a predominance of tolerant species in the inner part of the estuary According to the SEMAVS approach metals should be assumed to be nonbioavailable but experiments with transplanted C brasiliana showed metal bioaccumulation particularly in the cases of chromium copper mercury and zinc The weightofevidence approach was applied to compare and harmonize LoEs commonly used in sedimentquality assessments and to then classify estuary environments according to both their potential for having adverse effects on the biota and their possible ecological risks All of the results of these approaches except for SEMAVS were found to complement each otherThe authors thank the Brazilian Ministry of Education – Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal e Ensino Superior CAPES Grant No 099/06 and the Spanish Ministry of Education–Ministerio de Educación–Dirección General de Universidades MECD/DGU No PHB20050100PC for the BrazilSpain International Cooperation Program The R J Torres also thanks the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development CNPq for a postdoctoral fellowship awarded to conclude this study D Abessa A Cesar A A Mozeto and C D S Pereira thank CNPQ for the productivity fellowships awarded T A Del Valls Casillas thanks the Ministry of Economy and Competitivity in Spain for partially funding his participation in this study through contracts CTM201128437C0202 and CTM201236476C0201 A special thanks is given to Danielle J Deremo for the English language review

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