Abstract
A series of toxicity tests were conducted on liquid and suspended solid phase fractions of sediments from the Port of Hampton Roads, Virginia. The respiration and hyporegulatory capacity of grass shrimp proved to be sensitive indices of sublethal stress associated with exposure to contaminated sediments. On the other hand, hyper-regulatory capacity was not affected by any of the experimental conditions. Experiments involving sediments from Hampton Roads Harbor and most of the mainstem of the Elizabeth River showed no indications of stress. However, sediment elutriates from the most industrialized region of the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River produced significant sublethal effects. The present study clearly defined the region of significant sediment contamination. The findings also indicated that most materials dredged during port deepening operations should be less contaminated than those routinely taken by maintenance dredging.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alden III RW, Butt AJ (1987) Statistical classification of the toxicity and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon contamination of sediments from a highly industrialized seaport. Environ Toxicol Anal Chem (in press)
Alden III RW, Young Jr RJ (1984) Toxicity tests of the sediments from the Port of Hampton Roads: Lethal effects. US Army Engineers, Technical Report B-27, Norfolk, VA, NTIS-AD-A165059/7/XAB
— (1982) Open ocean disposal of materials from a highly industrialized estuary: An evaluation of potential lethal effects. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 11:567–576
American Society for Testing Materials (1980) Practice for conducting acute toxicity tests with fish, macroinvertebrates, and amphibians. ASTM E 729-80. ASTM, Philadelphia, PA
Anderson JW (1979) An assessment of knowledge concerning the fate and effects of petroleum hydrocarbons in the marine environment. In: Vernberg WB, Thurberg FT, Calabrese A, Vernberg FJ (eds) Marine Pollution: Functional Responses. Academic Press, New York
— (1977) Responses to sublethal levels of petroleum hydrocarbons: Are they sensitive indicators and do they correlate with tissue contamination? In: Wolfe DA (ed) Fate and Effects of Petroleum Hydrocarbons in Marine Organisms and Ecosystems. Pergamon, New York
Anderson JW, Neff JM, Cox BA, Tatem HE, Wolfe DA, Hightower GM (1974) The effects of oil in estuarine animals: Toxicity, uptake, and depuration respiration. In: Vernberg FJ, Vernberg WB (eds) Pollution and Physiology of Marine Organisms, Academic Press, New York
Caldwell RS (1974) Osmotic and ionic regulation in decapod Crustacea exposed to methoxychlor. In: Vernberg FJ, Vernberg WB (eds) Pollution and Physiology of Marine Organisms. Academic Press, New York
DeCoursey PT, Vernberg WB (1975) The effect of dredging in a polluted estuary on the physiology of larval Zooplankton. Water Research 9:149–154
Dillon TM, Gibson AB (1986) Bioassessment methodologies for the regulatory testing of freshwater dredged material. US Army Corps of Engineers, Waterways Exp Sta, Vicksburg, MS, Misc Paper EL-86-6
Katz B (1979) Relationship of the physiology of aquatic organisms to the lethality of toxicants: A broad overview with emphasis on membrane permeability. In: Marking LL, Kimerle RA (eds) Aquatic Toxicology. Amer Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, PA, 14 pp
Lee GF, Jones RA, Mariani GM (1977) Comments on US EPA Corps of Engineers dredged sediment bioassay procedures. Environmental Engineering, Colorado State University, Ft Collins, CO, Occasional Paper No. 26
Merrill EG, Wade TL (1985) Carbonized coal products as a source of aromatic hydrocarbons to sediments from a highly industrialized estuary. Environ Sci Technol 19:597–603
Nie NH, Hull CH, Jenkins JH, Steinbrenner K, Bent DH (eds) (1975) Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. McGrawHill, New York, 434 pp
Nimmo DR, Bahner LH (1974) Some physiological consequences of polychlorinated biphenyl and salinity-stress in penaeid shrimp. In: Vernberg FJ, Vernberg WB (eds) Pollution and Physiology of Marine Organisms. Academic Press, New York
Pequeqnat WE, Smith DD, Darnell RM, Presley BJ, Reid RO (1978) An assessment of the potential impact of dredged material disposal in the open ocean. Tech Rep D-78-2, US Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Exp Sta, Vicksburg, MS, NTIS-AD-A053183:249–317
Rao KR, Fox FR, Conklin PJ, Cantelmo AC, Brannon AC (1979) Physiological and biochemical investigations of the toxicity of pentachlorophenol to crustaceans. In: Vernberg FJ, Calabrese A, Thurberg FP, Vernberg WB (eds) Physiological Responses of Marine Biota to Pollutants. Academic Press, New York
Roesijadi G, Anderson JW, Petrocelli SR, Giam CS (1976) Osmoregulation of the grass shrimpPalaemonetes pugio exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). I. Effect on chloride and osmotic concentrations and chloride and water-exchange kinetics. Mar Biol 38:343–355.
Shuba PJ, Tatem HE, Carroll JH (1978) Biological assessment methods to predict the impact of open-water disposal of dredged material. Rep D-78-50 Environmental Laboratory, US Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Exp Sta, Vicksburg, MS
Thurberg FP, Dawson MA, Collier RS (1973) Effects of copper and cadmium on osmoregulation on oxygen consumption in two species of estuarine crabs. Mar Biol 23:171–175
US Environmental Protection Agency, US Army Corps of Engineers (1978) Ecological evaluation of proposed discharge of dredged material into ocean waters. Implementation Manual for Section 103 of Public Law 92-532. Environ Effects Laboratory, US Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Exp Sta, Vicksburg, MS
— (1976) Distribution of metals in Elizabeth River sediments. EPA-903/9-76-063, Annapolis Field Office, MD
- (1975) Methods for acute toxicity tests with fish, macroinvertebrates, and amphibians. EPA-660/3-75-009, Corvailis, OR
Waldichuk M (1974) Some biological concerns in heavy metals pollution. In: Vernberg FJ (ed) Pollution and Physiology of Marine Organisms. Academic Press, New York
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Alden, R.W., Butt, A.J. & Young, R.J. Toxicity testing of sublethal effects of dredged materials. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 17, 381–389 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01055176
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01055176