The utility of acid volatile sulfide and simultaneously extracted metals concentrations as an indicator of metal bioavailability and toxicity in estuarine sediments

As part of the Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program, surficial sediment samples (upper 2 cm) were collected from over 1,000 estuarine sites along the Mid-Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastlines from 1990--1994. In addition, sediment samples from approximately 30 sites within the New York/New Jersey Harbor complex were collected in 1993. Acid volatile sulfide concentrations (AVS), simultaneously extracted metals (SEM), sediment toxicity bioassays, and benthic community compositions were determined for each of these sites. The present effort examined the hypotheses that: (1) the ratio of AVS to SEM is an indicator of metal availability and sediment toxicity and (2) that correction of other sources of mortality (organic contamination, narcosis, hypoxia, etc.) further strengthens this ratio relationship. Examination of highly metal contaminated sites in the New York/New Jersey harbor area, selected metal contaminated regions in the Mid-Atlantic and Gulf estuaries, as well as reference regions (uncontaminated zones) did not support these hypotheses. In fact, significant/or benthic community composition shifts that could not be attributed to other sources were observed in regions characterized by the alternate hypothesis. Normalized metal concentrations based on available aluminum appeared to be more closely related indicator of observed toxicity of benthic community attributes than AVS ratios.