Sediment Quality Objectives and Criteria Development in Germany

Development of Sediment Quality Objectives for Enclosed Bays and Estuaries

Background The Sediment Quality Objectives (SQO) indirect effects assessment determines whether sediments meet California’s narrative SQO for human health: Pollutants shall not be present in sediments at levels that will bioaccumulate in aquatic life to levels that are harmful to human health. This program determines whether sediment contamination at a site results in an unacceptable health ris...

Transitioning sediment quality assessment into regulations: Challenges and solutions in implementing California's sediment quality objectives.

Development and promulgation of sediment quality criteria represents a substantial challenge for water quality agencies. Unlike water quality programs that rely on individual chemical thresholds to assess water quality, the complex processes affecting contaminant bioavailability in sediments preclude the use of contaminant concentrations to independently assess impacts or identify cause. Variou...

Development of Sediment Quality Objectives for California Bays and Estuaries Workplan for: INCORPORATING MULTIPLE LINES OF EVIDENCE INTO SEDIMENT QUALITY OBJECTIVES

The State of California’s sediment quality objectives (SQOs) must accomplish several objectives. First, they must be protective of multiple beneficial uses, including healthy habitat for aquatic life, human health risk from the consumption of seafood, and risk to fish and wildlife from the bioaccumulation of contaminants. Second, the SQOs must be feasible for use by a variety of agencies with v...

Sediment Quality Criteria: Numeric Chemical– vs. Biological Effects–Based Approaches

The US EPA and state regulatory agencies are developing sediment quality criteria and standards for the protection of water quality from sediment-associated contaminants. Many of the approaches being pursued rely in whole or substantive part on the bulk concentrations of selected chemical contaminants in the sediment as a basis for determining those sediments sufficiently contaminated to warran...

- 1 - Review of Sediment Quality Objectives for Enclosed Bays and Estuaries of California