Fate and Effects of Sediment-Bound Chemicals in Aquatic Systems. Proceedings of the Sixth Pellston Workshop, Florissant, Colorado, August 12–17, 1984

452 Pages·1987·6.86 MB·English

by  Kenneth L. Dickson

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FATE AND EFFECTS
OF SEDIMENT-BOUND
CHEMICALS IN
AQUATIC SYSTEMS
Edited by
Kenneth L. Dickson, North Texas State University
Alan W. Maki, Exxon Corporation
William A. Brungs, USEPA
Proceedings of the Sixth Pellston Workshop,
Florissant, Colorado, August 12-17, 1984
Sponsored by USEPA, Office of Toxic Substances,
North Texas State University,
American Petroleum Institute
SETAC Special Publications Series
Series Editors
Dr. C. H. Ward
Department of Environmental Science
and Engineering, Rice University
Dr. Β. T. Walton
Environmental Sciences Division,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Publication sponsored by the Society of
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
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Copyright © 1987 Pergamon Books Inc.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in
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otherwise, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
First edition 1987
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pellston Environmental Workshop (6th:1984:Florissant, Colo.)
Fate and effects of sediment-bound chemicals in aquatic
systems.
(SETAC special publications series).
1. Water—Pollution—Environmental aspects—Congresses.
2. Sedimentation and deposition—Congresses.
3. Biodegradation—Congresses. I. Dickson, Kenneth L.
II. Maki, Alan W., 1947- . III. Brungs, William A.
IV. United States. Environmental Protection Agency.
Office of Toxic Substances. V. American Petroleum
Institute. VI. North Texas State University.
VII. Title. VIII. Series.
QH545.W3P45 1984 574.5'222 87-16210
British Library Cataloging in Publication Data
Pellston Workshop (6th:1984:Florissant)
Fate and effects of sediment-bound chemicals in aquatic
systems: proceedings of the Sixth Pellston Workshop,
Florissant, Colorado, 12-17 August 1984.—(SETAC special
publications series).
1. Aquatic ecology. 2. Water—Pollution
I. Title II. Dickson, Kenneth L. III. Maki, Alan W.
IV. Brungs, William Α. V. Society of Environmental
Toxicology and Chemistry VI. Series
574.5'263 QH541.5.W3
ISBN 0-08-034866-1
Printed in Great Britain by A. Wheaton & Co. Ltd., Exeter
Introduction to the SETAC Special
Publications Series
The SETAC Special Publications series was established by the Society of
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry to provide in-depth reviews and
critical appraisals on scientific subjects relevant to understanding the
impacts of chemicals and technology on the environment. The series consists
of single and multiple authored/edited books on topics selected by the Board
of Directors for their importance, timeliness, and their contribution to multi-
disciplinary approaches to solving environmental problems. The diversity
and breadth of subjects covered in this series will reflect the wide range of
disciplines encompassed by environmental toxicology, environmental chemi-
stry, and hazard assessment. Despite this diversity, the goals of these
volumes are similar; they are to present the reader with authoritative
coverage of the literature, as well as paradigms, methodologies, contro-
versies, research needs, and new development specific to the featured topics.
All books in the series are peer reviewed for SETAC by acknowledged
experts.
The SETAC Special Publications will be useful to environmental scientists
in research, research management, chemical manufacturing, regulation, and
education, as well as to students considering careers in these areas, for
keeping abreast of recent developments in familiar areas and for rapid
introduction to principles and approaches in new subject areas.
Fate and Effects of Sediment-Bound Chemicals in Aquatic Systems, the
third book published in this series, presents the proceedings of the sixth
Pellston Workshop, held August 12-17, 1984, at Florissant, Colorado.
Sediments are increasingly recognized to affect the transport and biological
availability of chemical contaminants in fresh water and marine ecosystems.
FSBC A*
ix
χ Introduction
This workshop brought together many of the leading workers to consider the
scientific basis for evaluating and predicting the fate and effects of sediment-
bound chemicals. These proceedings provide a valuable summary of chemical
interactions with sediments and their consequences for aquatic organisms, as
well as identifying critical research needs in this area.
BARBARA Τ. WALTON,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Series Editor
Preface
This publication is the product of the Sixth Pellston Environmental
Workshop held on August 12-17,1984, in Florissant, Colorado. These work-
shops are devoted to assessing and guiding the development of scientific
inquiry of hazards to the aquatic environment. Support for the workshop
series has come from a variety of sources both private and public in the form
of grants. Participants of each workshop are invited from regulatory agen-
cies, universities, and industries to share their expertise on the particular
topic chosen for discussion. By serving as a forum where professionals can
discuss the state of knowledge on a topic and offer direction to future
research, these workshops provide stimulus to the formulation and imple-
mentation of policies pertinent to water quality management.
This workshop addressed the topic of the role of suspended and settled
sediments in regulating the fate and effects of chemicals in the aquatic
environment. The nature and extent of partitioning and bioavailability were
identified as key elements in research efforts toward assessing the effects of
sediments on water quality. As we move forward in developing regulatory
and management strategies for chemicals entering public water supplies, it is
essential that our knowledge of chemical interactions with solids be incor-
porated. This book and the personal interchange of ideas among the
participants of the workshop that it represents is a compilation of the state
of knowledge on the role of solids in assessing the hazards of chemicals in the
aquatic environment.
xi
Acknowledgments
The 1984 Pellston Workshop and this publication were made possible by
financial support from the American Petroleum Institute, the Office of
Toxic Substances Ecological Effects Branch USEPA, and North Texas State
University.
The success of this workshop was enhanced by the serenity of the Rocky
Mountains and the excellent conference facilities of The Nature Place in
Florissant, Colorado. Mr. Dave Perry and the Sanborn Western Camps staff
are thanked for their assistance and hospitality.
Workshop organizers would like to commend the participants for their
dedication to the tasks defined in the opening session and for their prompt
preparation of manuscripts and revisions that have made possible these
proceedings. Gratitude is also expressed to Donna Argo, Jan Hansen, Kathy
Henson, and Bonnie Yates for managing details of workshop organization
and publication preparation.
The co-chairmen wish to thank the Society of Environmental Toxicology
and Chemistry for promoting the results of this workshop as a Special
Publication. Dr. Barbara T. Walton is thanked for her coordination of the
peer review of this volume. Special gratitude is extended to the anonymous
reviewers who devoted careful consideration and constructive appraisal of
these efforts, thus ensuring a concise and scholarly product. The organizers
and participants sincerely appreciate their contributions.
xiii
Introduction
A. W. Maki, Κ. L. Dickson and W. A. Brungs
The prediction of the environmental fate and effects of chemicals potentially
reaching surface waters is a major activity of many chemists and biologists
throughout academia, industry, and regulatory agencies. The increasing
environmental awareness of the past 15 years has focused the need for
accurate and reliable methods to predict environmental impacts of new
chemicals and effluent discharges in order to provide guidance and control
measures for industry and regulatory agencies. These control strategies have
led to the development of integrated hazard assessment programs for new
and expanded-use chemicals, effluent and discharge permitting, refinement
of water quality criteria and standards, as well as several other control
programs. Underlying each of these control programs is an implied
assurance in our ability to predict and assess the ultimate fate of a chemical
and its toxicity to aquatic life.
Historically, several assumptions have been made or implied in the develop-
ment and application of environmental safety assessments and water quality
criteria. The most significant factor was that introduced chemicals were
generally water-soluble. This resulted in the emphasis for impact analysis
being limited to the water column. This simplistic approach in turn created
bias for environmental assessments that emphasized pelagic species for
toxicity studies and placed the slow-to-evolve significance of environmental
chemistry in a support role. The process did not consider the ultimate fate
and distribution of the chemicals of concern, and when suspended and
settled solids were factors, they were considered to be a safe repository of
sorbed contaminants.
Two factors probably were most responsible for the insight that discred-
ited the overly simplistic and entrenched philosophy that emphasized only
dissolved chemicals and the water column. The first was the development of
the Priority Pollutant List in 1976, even though the choice of chemicals was
human health oriented. This list included a wide range of inorganic and
xvi Introduction
organic chemicals that, upon investigation, were found to be very water-
insoluble. The second factor was a result of the gradual involvement of
environmental chemists in the assessment process. They expressed concern
about the assumption of the irreversibility of chemicals sorbed to sediments.
The words bioavailability and partitioning became the key words of environ-
mental assessment.
The nature and extent of partitioning will ultimately influence the bio-
availability of a chemical. Whether or not bioavailability is enhanced or
decreased depends on the chemical, the suspended and settled sediments, and
the aquatic life form of interest. As we move forward in developing regula-
tory and management strategies for chemicals in the aquatic environment, it
is essential that our knowledge of chemical interactions with solids be
incorporated.
At the present time, it is our belief that considerable knowledge exists on
how chemicals interact with sediments and how these interactions affect the
fate and effects of the chemicals. Research data to date have clearly shown
that the fate and effects of chemicals are controlled by a combination of
concurrent processes involving both the transformation and transport of the
chemical. Among the most important processes for many chemicals are
solubilization and adsorption to solids, since they both affect the transport
of the material and influence bioavailability, toxicity, biodégradation,
hydrolysis, and ultimate fate of the chemical. However, information regard-
ing these processes is fragmentary, ad hoc, and sufficiently diverse as to
preclude definition of meaningful conclusions.
This workshop represents an attempt to bring together and focus the
existing knowledge on the role sediments play in regulating the fate and
effects of chemicals in the aquatic environment. The United States Environ-
mental Protection Agency's Office of Toxic Substances, the American
Petroleum Institute, and North Texas State University were the sponsoring
organizations. Conference facilities and accommodations were provided by
The Nature Place in Florissant, Colorado.
The format and philosophy of this workshop is a continuation of what has
become known as the "Pellston" Workshops. The first workshop was held
in June 1977 at the University of Michigan's Biological Station in Pellston,
Michigan, and twenty-four participants attended, representing industry,
academia, and government. They addressed the topic of Estimating the
Hazard of Chemical Substances to Aquatic Life and published the proceed-
ings under the sponsorship of the American Society of Testing and Materials
(ASTM) (1). Without a doubt, this workshop influenced thinking about how
a hazard assessment of a chemical should be approached. It also made
people aware of the state of the art for predictive fate and effects.
All participants felt the format of the workshop was an ideal mechanism
for constructive synthesis of concepts. Because of the success of the first
workshop and the ever-increasing need for guidance for both industrial and
Introduction xvii
governmental regulatory sectors, a second workshop was planned and con-
ducted in August 1978 at Waterville Valley, New Hampshire. This workshop
expanded on the first and addressed the topic of Analyzing the Hazard
Evaluation Process, Attended by thirty-four participants from this country,
Europe, and Asia, the workshop further solidified many of the hazard
assessment concepts and developed an international dialogue between the
regulator and the regulated, as well as introduced several new concepts
relevant to hazard evaluation and water quality criteria. The proceedings of
this workshop were published by the American Fisheries Society (2). The
meeting itself was funded by contributions from six industries.
Encouraged by the impact these workshops were having on the
advancement of the field of aquatic hazard evaluation, it was decided that it
would be productive to conduct a third workshop focusing on topics identi-
fied in the first two workshops. In August 1979, the third Pellston Workshop
was held on the theme of Biotransformation and Fate of Chemicals in the
Aquatic Environment, This workshop was funded by the Chemical Manufac-
turers Association (CMA) via a grant to North Texas State University. Like
the first two workshops, it has proven to be helpful in the development of the
state of the art in this field. The American Society of Microbiology published
the proceedings in the summer of 1980 (3).
The fourth workshop on Modeling the Fate of Chemicals in the Aquatic
Environment was held at the University of Michigan's Biological Station at
Pellston and was attended by thirty-two model developers and model users.
It too was an outgrowth of the earlier workshops. Being able to predict the
concentration of a chemical in a particular enviromental compartment is a
critical need of decision makers in industry and governmental regulatory
agencies. This workshop was jointly funded by the United States Environ-
mental Protection Agency and by the Chemical Manufacturers Association.
Ann Arbor Science published the proceedings in 1982 (4).
The fifth workshop dealt with Environmental Hazard Assessment of
Effluents and included forty-one participants involved in the evaluation of
the enviromental fate and effects of complex mixtures and effluents. This
workshop, held at the Valley Ranch in Cody, Wyoming, was instrumental in
identifying water quality-based effluent limitations and standards, signaling
a departure from technology-based limitations. Participants were successful
in identifying realistic laboratory and field testing methodology useful to
predictive evaluations of effluent impacts. Proceedings of the workshop are
currently being published through the Society of Environmental Toxicology
and Chemistry (SETAC) via Pergamon Press. The workshop was supported
by contributions from the American Petroleum Institute, the Electric Power
Research Institute, the Chemical Manufacturers Association, and the United
States Environmental Protection Agency.