Distribution, magnitude and characterization of the toxicity of Ukrainian estuarine sediments

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin 2011-11, Vol.62 (11), p.2442-2462
• Main Authors: Burgess, Robert M., Konovets, Igor M., Kipnis, Ludmila S., Lyashenko, Artem V., Grintsov, Vladimir A., Petrov, Alexei N., Terletskaya, Anna V., Milyukin, Mykhailo V., Povolotskii, Mark I., Demchenko, Victor Y., Bogoslovskaya, Tatiyana A., Topkin, Yuri V., Vorobyova, Tatiyana V., Portis, Lisa M., Ho, Kay T.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acute sediment toxicity; Analysis of Variance; Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; aquatic organisms; Biological and medical sciences; Black Sea; Brackish; Brackish water ecosystems; Chemical analysis; Chironomidae - drug effects; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Contaminants; Contamination; Daphnia - drug effects; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Environmental Pollutants - analysis; Environmental Pollutants - toxicity; Estuaries; estuarine sediments; Estuary; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Geologic Sediments - analysis; Hydrophobic organic chemicals (HOCs); hydrophobicity; Larva - drug effects; Marine; Metals, Heavy - analysis; Metals, Heavy - toxicity; organic compounds; Organisms; pollutants; Remediation; Rivers; sediment contamination; Sediments; Synecology; Toxicity; Toxicity identification evaluation (TIE); Toxicity Tests; Ukraine; Unions; water pollution
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2011.08.023

► Acute sediment toxicity was detected in several Ukrainian estuaries. ► Occurrence of sediment toxicity varied spatially and temporally during the study. ► Sediments and organism tissues were contaminated with anthropogenic pollutants. ► Hydrophobic organic contaminants contributed substantially to observed toxicity. During the Soviet era, Ukraine was an important industrial and agricultural region of the Soviet Union. This industrial and agricultural activity resulted in contamination of Ukraine’s estuaries with legacy anthropogenic pollutants. Investigations on the toxicological effects of this estuarine contamination have been limited. For this research, we measured the toxicity of contaminated sediments from four Ukrainian estuaries to several aquatic organisms over 3 years. Sediment chemical analyses and whole sediment toxicity identification evaluations (TIEs) were also performed to determine the classes of contaminants contributing to toxicity. Toxic sediments were observed in several of the Ukrainian estuaries and chemical analyses of the sediments demonstrated anthropogenic contaminants were widely distributed. Contaminants were also detected in macrobenthic organisms collected from the sediments. Several lines of evidence, including TIEs, indicated hydrophobic organic chemicals (HOCs) were contributing substantially to observed toxicity. This information can guide environmental managers to prioritize portions of the estuaries requiring remediation.