Contribution of sediment contamination to multi-stress in lowland waters

Combining Passive Sampling and Dosing to Unravel the Contribution of Hydrophobic Organic Contaminants to Sediment Ecotoxicity

“…The PSPD laboratory bioassays were conducted with sediment from 25 water bodies, with varying degrees of multistress. , Sampling was conducted in 2017 (4 sample sites) and 2018 (21 sample sites) in The Netherlands. Sediment samples were collected from nature reserves (N1–N5), water bodies receiving wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent (W1–W6), agricultural areas (A1–A7), an urban area (U1), and from locations with multiple contaminant influences, originating from varying surrounding land use, labled mixed locations (M1–M6) (see Table S8).…”

“…Contaminated sediments are ubiquitous repositories of pollutants, harboring toxic chemicals at concentrations many times higher than in the overlaying water . Consequently, sediments may serve as a continuous source of contaminants to the overlying water, which adversely affect aquatic ecosystems, causing substantial environmental risks. − Nonetheless, contaminated sediments are largely overlooked in water quality assessments performed according to the European Union Water Framework Directive (EU-WFD), , which requires member states to monitor 45 priority substances in the water, but not in the sediment . If performed at all, chemical analysis of a limited number of contaminants does not accurately characterize the complex contaminant mixtures present in polluted sediments nor the actual exposure of organisms, expressed as the freely dissolved concentration, the chemical activity, or the bioaccessibility.…”

“…Alternatively, bioassays may be employed as they respond to all known and unknown bioavailable contaminants present . Yet, bioassay results are sometimes difficult to interpret as the observed adverse effects may be caused by a variety of (un)­known stressors . The presence of high nutrient levels and differences in sediment composition of contaminated sediments may either mask or exaggerate the potential adverse effects of the chemical contaminants. ,, Also, the choice of the test organism or end point may lead to differential outcomes of the bioassays, as different organisms and end points exhibit specific sensitivities to the wide variety of compounds present in the complex contaminant mixtures …”

Inventarisatie van nieuwe monitoringstechnieken in het waterbeheer : ontwikkeling van een nieuwe richtlijn voor adaptieve monitoring om te leren van uitgevoerde (her)inrichtingsprojecten

“…Een grotere ruimtelijke dekking is nodig om bronnen en routes van stoffen te bepalen (Mouri et al, 2011). Daarnaast speelt voor toxicanten dat ze niet alleen in het water zitten, maar ook zijn opgeslagen in de bodem (Wieringa et al, 2022).…”

Enlarging the Arsenal of Test Species for Sediment Quality Assessment

“…Contaminated sediments are ubiquitous and are considered to be the largest chemical repositories on earth (Burton 2013 ). Hence, contaminated sediments present serious ecotoxicological risks to benthic communities, affecting both aquatic ecosystem structure and functioning (de Castro-Català et al 2016 ; van der Lee et al 2020 ; Wieringa et al 2022 ), emphasizing the need to incorporate sediment quality into the assessment of aquatic ecosystem health.…”