Multiple contaminant ecological risk evaluation in small craft harbour sediments in Nova Scotia, Canada

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3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Small craft harbours are vital for the fishing industry and have high socioeconomic and cultural importance for surrounding communities. Presence of potential contaminants of concern in small craft harbour sediments can have significant impacts in biota and humans, including fishing activities and the local economy. While single contaminant sediment concentrations may be below sediment quality guidelines, the interaction of multiple contaminants in sediments may potentially exacerbate chemical ecological risk. An ecological risk evaluation for four classes of contaminants (i.e., petroleum hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and metals) was conducted in 31 small craft harbours in Nova Scotia, Canada, using two approaches (i.e., mean probable effect level quotient and number and frequency of sediment quality guideline exceedances). Most small craft harbours showed a low ecological risk to marine biota, with only two small craft harbours suggesting high risk. While urgent action is not needed, monitoring is recommended for these small craft harbours to confirm that pollution is not increasing, and to potentially identify and control contamination sources.

Original languageEnglish
Article number155266
JournalScience of the Total Environment
Volume834
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 15 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Thanks to DFO-SCH and PSPC for supplying sediment data. This study was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Grant/Award Number: RGPIN-2018-04119 to Tony R. Walker, a NSERC CREATE: ASPIRE student scholarship and a Mitacs Globalink Graduate Fellowship to Myriam Mora.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors

ASJC Scopus Subject Areas

  • Environmental Engineering
  • Environmental Chemistry
  • Waste Management and Disposal
  • Pollution

PubMed: MeSH publication types

  • Journal Article

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