ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: INTRODUCTION Sediments are increasingly recognized as both a carrier and a possible source of contaminants in aquatic systems, and these materials may also affect groundwater quality and agricultural products when disposed on land. Contaminants are not necessarily fixed permanently by the sediment, but may be recycled via biological and chemical agents both within the sedimentary compartment and the water column. Bioaccumulation and food chain transfer may be strongly affected by sediment-associated proportions of pollutants. Benthic organisms, in particular, have direct contact with sediment, and the contaminant level in the sediment may have greater impact on their survival than do aqueous concentrations. Following the findings of positive correlations between liver lesions in English Sole and concentrations of certain aromatic hydrocarbons in Puget Sound (Washington) sediment, it can be suspected that such substrates may also be responsible for a host of other serious and presently unrecognized changes at both the organismal and ecosystem levels (Malins et al., 1984). Modern research on particle-bound contaminants probably originated with the idea that sediments reflect the biological, chemical and physical conditions in a water body (Züllig, 1956). Based on this concept the historical evolution of limnological parameters could be traced back from the study of vertical sediment profiles. In fact, already early in this century Nipkow (1920) suggested that the alternative sequence of layers in a sediment core from Lake Zürich might be related to variations in the trophic status of the lake system. During the following decades of limnological research on eutrophication problems sediment aspects were playing only a marginal role, until it was recognized that recycling from bottom deposits can be a significant factor in the nutrient budget of an aquatic system. Similarly, in the next global environmental issue, the acidification of inland waters sediment-related research only became gradually involved. Here too, it is now accepted that particle-interactions can affect aquatic ecosystems, e.g. by enhancing the mobility of toxic metals. In contrast to the eutrophication and acidification problems, research on toxic chemicals has included sediments aspects from its beginning: Artificial radionuclides in the Columbia and Clinch Rivers in the early sixties (Sayre et al., 1963); in the late sixties heavy metals in the Rhine River system (De Groot, 1966) and methyl mercury (Jensen & Jerne- 16v, 1967) at Minamata Bay in Japan, in Swedish lakes, in Alpine Lakes, Laurentian Great Lakes and in the Wabigoon River system in Canada; organochlorine insecticides and PCBs in Lakes St. Clair and Erie during the seventies (Frank et al., 1977); chlorobenzenes and TCDDs in the Niagara River system and Lake Ontario in the early eighties (Oliver & Nicol, 1982; Smith et al., 1983). In the present lecture notes, following the description of priority pollutants related to sedimentary phases (Chapter 2), four aspects will be covered, which in an overlapping succession also reflect the development of knowledge in particle-associated pollutants during the past twenty-five years: - the identification, surveillance, monitoring and control of sources and distribution of pollutants (Chapter 3); - the evaluation of solid/solution relations of contaminants in surface waters (Chapter 4); - the study of in-situ processes and mechanisms in pollutant transfer in various compartments of the aquatic ecosystems (Chapter 5);- The assessment of the envlroD-mental impact of particle-bound contaminants, i.e. the development of sediment quality criteria (Chapter 6). A final chapter will focus on practical aspects with contaminated sediments. Available technologies will be described as well as future perspectives for the management of dredged materials. Here too, validity of remedial measures can only be assessed by integrated, multidisciplinary research. In the view of the growing information on the present subject and owing to the limitations in the framework of this monography, the reader is referred to additional selected bibliography, which is attached at the end of this Chapter i. Additional information on the more recent publications on contaminated sediments is given in the annual review volume of the Journal of the Water Pollution Control Federation, June edition.