Pore water testing and analysis: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The increasingly common practice of collecting and assessing sediment pore water as a primary measure of sediment quality is reviewed. Good features of this practice include: pore water is a key exposure route for some organisms associated with sediments; pore water testing eliminates particle size effects; pore water analyses and tests can provide useful information regarding contamination and pollution. Bad features include: pore water is not the only exposure route; pore water tests lack chemical or biological realism: their "sensitivity" relative to other tests may be meaningless due to manipulation and laboratory artifacts; many sediment and surface dwelling organisms are not directly influenced by pore water. Bad features can become ugly if: other exposure pathways are not considered (for toxicity or bioaccumulation); manipulation techniques are not appropriate; pore water tests are inappropriately linked to population-level effects. Pore water testing and analyses can be effective tools provided their limitations are well understood by researchers and managers.
Chapman
Peter M
PM
EVS Environment Consultants, North Vancouver, BC, Canada. pchapman@attglobal.net
Wang
Feiyue
F
Germano
Joseph D
JD
Batley
Graeme
G
D000818:Animals; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry*; D007448:Invertebrates; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D018675:Toxicity Tests; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*
D012989:Soil Pollutants; D014873:Water Pollutants