Integrated quality assessment of sediments from harbour areas in Santos-São Vicente Estuarine System, Southern Brazil

Sediment quality assessment of the tributaries of the Santos-São Vicente Estuarine System – Brazil

“…Moreover, this region presented the highest levels Hg and PAHs, corroborating the results obtained by other studies carried out at Piaçaguera Canal Cesar et al, 2006;Torres et al, 2015;Buruaem et al, 2013). The Piaçaguera Canal was created from the dredging and rectification of the Mogi and Piaçaguera Rivers, in order to enable the installation of port terminals.…”

“…Acenaphthene, Acenaphthylene, and Pb (the highest value of this metal in winter) were found in these sediments. Despite the absence of acute toxicity observed, previous studies reported high mortality of amphipods exposed to sediments from Diana Island (collected near our sampling site) (Cesar et al, 2006;Buruaem et al, 2013). It should be noted that dredging activities in the Santos harbour may be a sporadic source of toxicity and contamination to Diana River.…”

“…This location was chosen due to lack of reference site for the SSES, since the sediments are influenced by anthropogenic activities to varying degrees. Moreover, Engenho D'água Beach presents low levels of contamination and has been used as a reference site by several environmental studies (Cesar et al, 2006;Buruaem et al, 2013;Abessa et al, 2014a).…”

“…Several studies performed in this area have evaluated sediment quality though chemical analyses and toxicity tests (Abessa et al, 1998;2014a;Lamparelli et al, 2001;Cesar et al, 2006;Choueri et al, 2009;Torres et al, 2009;2014;Buruaem et al, 2013). Although some of these studies have assessed the sediment quality at the inner parts of the estuary, information on the sediments of the SSES tributaries was not properly investigated.…”

Surface sediment quality relative to port activities: A contaminant-spectrum assessment

“…Biocides other than DDT, such as tributyltin, Diuron, and Irgarol 1051, at levels exceeding global sediment quality guidelines have also been detected in shipping and shipbuilding ports in South Korea (Kim et al, 2015). Organotin biocides were detected in surface sediments in Port Santos in southern Brazil as well (Buruaem et al, 2013). This result suggests that ship building and repairing ports need a comprehensive management protocol for waste discharges, especially repairing old ships.…”