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Acid‐volatile sulfide (AVS) has been proposed as an important partitioning phase determining the bioavailability of cationic metals in sediments. The objective of this research was to evaluate the role of AVS in determining copper toxicity in sediments from two sites heavily contaminated with copper: Steilacoom Lake, Washington, and the Keweenaw Watershed, Michigan. Sediments from the two sites were used in 10‐d toxicity tests with the amphipod Hyalella azteca, and results of the toxicity tests were compared to bioavailability predictions based on copper and AVS concentrations in the test sediments, as well as copper concentrations in the sediment interstitial (pore) water. Normalization of sediment copper concentrations to AVS accurately predicted sediments that were nontoxic when molar copper‐to‐AVS ratios were less than one; however, toxicity also was frequently not observed in samples with molar copper‐to‐AVS ratios significantly greater than one. In contrast, measurement of pore‐water copper concentrations and subsequent comparison of these concentrations to water‐only copper toxicity data for Hyalella azteca resulted in accurate predictions of the presence and extent of copper toxicity in the test sediments. These results indicate that AVS alone is not an appropriate partitioning phase for predicting copper bioavailability in freshwater sediments.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency water-quality criteria establish permissible levels of ammonia in the nation's fresh waters. These criteria are based on accumulated research suggesting that, for most aquatic species (primarily fishes), the toxicity of un-ionized ammonia predominates over that of the ammonium ion. The development of a sediment-quality criterion for ammonia requires evaluation of the relative toxicity of the two ammonia forms to benthic and epibenthic macroinvertebrates to determine whether the water-quality toxicity model can be applied to sediments. Flow-through ammonia toxicity tests were conducted over 10 d with the oligochaete Lumbriculus variegatus and the larval midge Chironomus tenfans at four pH values (6.3, 7.2, 7.8, and 8.6) using a unique pH control system. Total ammonia was more toxic at elevated than at low pH to both species, suggesting that un-ionized ammonia (more prevalent at high pH) is important in determining the toxicity of ammonia to these two species. Hardness or alkalinity differences in the range of 30 to 200 mg/kg (as CaCO,) did not appear to affect the toxicity of ammonia to the two species in separate 4-d tests. Based on results of the 10-d tests, the joint toxicity/pH model that establishes the water-quality criterion value for ammonia appears to be sufficiently protective of L. variegatus and C. tentans, by factors of at least 3 and 10, respectively. However, this study did not address potential differences in exposure of benthic organisms to ammonia in sediments vs. that in the water column; nor were the chronic effects of ammonia on these species measured in this study.

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