Abstract
The toxicity of chemicals in sediments is strongly influenced by the extent to which the chemicals bind to the sediment. This modifies the chemical potential to which the organisms are subjected. As a consequence, different sediments will exhibit different degrees of toxicity for the same total quantity of chemical. These differences have been reconciled by relating organism response to the chemical concentration in the interstitial water of the sediments (Adams et al., 1985; Swartz, et al., 1985; Muir et al., 1985; Adams, 1987; Kemp and Swartz, 1988; Nebeker and Schuytema, 1988). The relevant sediment properties, therefore, are those which influence the distribution of chemical between the solid and aqueous phases.
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DiToro, D.M., De Rosa, L.D. (1995). Sediment Toxicity and Equilibrium Partitioning Development of Sediment Quality Criteria for Toxic Substances. In: Novotny, V., Somlyódy, L. (eds) Remediation and Management of Degraded River Basins. NATO ASI Series, vol 3. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-57752-9_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-57752-9_5
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