What is sediment quality?

Sediment quality is assessed by comparing measured results to historical, pre-development, and regional baseline values to identify any changes that have occurred and to identify stations with sediment quality that is outside the range of natural variability.

What is sediment quality guidelines?

Numerical sediment quality guidelines provide a basis for interpreting whole-sediment chemistry data by identifying the concentrations of chemicals of potential concern (COPCs) that can cause or substantially contribute to adverse effects on sediment-dwelling organisms (4).

What is threshold effect concentration?

Threshold Effect Limit (TEL) and Probable Effect Limit (PEL) Approach. The TEL is a sediment contamination concentration at which a toxic response has started to be observed in benthic organisms. The PEL is the concentration at which a large percentage of the benthic population shows a toxic response.

What is probable effect concentration?

The PEC is a concentration above which adverse effects are likely to be observed. SQGs are derived primarily from co-occurrence data collected from field studies with additional laboratory confirmatory toxicity testing data.

What is a threshold effect concentration?

When did ANZECC water quality guidelines come out?

ANZECC 1992, Australian Water Quality Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Waters, Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council, Canberra.

Who are the authors of the ANZECC sediment report?

Simpson, S.L.; Batley, G.E.; Chariton, A.A. Prepared for the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities

Why was ANZECC and armcanz ( 2000 ) important?

They provided governments and communities at the time with a set of tools for assessing and managing ambient water quality in natural and semi-natural water resources. These historical publications were not prepared by the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources and do not meet Australian Government web accessibility requirements.

How to calculate toxicant guideline values for sediment?

ANZECC & ARMCANZ (2000) introduced toxicant DGVs for sediments but only a limited number of sediment toxicity tests were available at that time. It was not possible to derive reliable guideline values using species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) of chronic toxicity data, as completed for toxicants in water.