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The cartographic viewer provides information about the chemical quality status of the Galician coastal water (mainly), based on chemical pollutants and ecotoxicity bioassays data. The data comes from two sources:  literature  and unpublished data collected by the group.

accessMapViewerThe chemical quality status is represented by a traffic light color code, similar to the one used by the OSPAR Commission in its Quality Status Report, for what they propose as cut-off points to separate the different environmental states as a function of concentrations or response metrics. It has been used three boundary values or cutoff points (P1, P2 and P3) which leads to four  ecological states: background, acceptable, uncertain and unacceptable (fig. 1).

mapCriteria
Fig. 1. - Chemical Quality Status.

The cutoff points are established taking into account the criteria of the OSPAR Commission and scientific studies widely accepted by the scientific community and supranational organizations, selecting the most appropriate for each type of chemical contaminant and for each ecotoxicological response.

Chemical pollution data currently available is: concentrations of metals  and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediments (cutoff points in table 1 and table 2) and wild mussels (cutoff points table 4 and table 5), and ecotoxicity bioassays (PNR values) using sea-urchin larvae exposed to water and elutriates (aqueous extraction of the sediment) (cutoff points in table 3).

Data is grouped in five-year periods, given the stability of the sediment, yielding three study periods: 1997-2001, 2002-2006 and 2007-2011, selecting the worst state for the same station when more than one value is available.

 
Table 1. Cutoff values for metals in sediments (mg/kg DW).
*Value normalized to 5% Aluminium
Metales P1 P2 P3
BAC (1) ERL (2) SQCM(3) ERM (4)
Cadmio (Cd) 0.129 1.2   9.6
Cobre (Cu) 27* 34   270
Plomo (Pb) 22.4   58.7 218
Mercurio (Hg) 0.091 0.15   0.71
Zinc (Zn) 122* 150   410
Table 2. Cutoff values for PAHs in sediments (µg/kg DW).
HAPs P1 ​P2 ​P3
BAC TEL (5) PEL (6)
Fenantreno (Phe) 7.3 86.2 544
Antraceno (Ant) 1.8 46.69 245
Fluoranteno (Fla) 14.4 113 1494
Pireno (Pyr) 11.3 153 1398
Benzo (a) Antraceno (BaA) 7.1 74.8 693
Benzo (a) Pireno (BaP) 8.2 88.8 763
 
Table 3. Cutoff values for ecotoxicological data for sea urchin (PNR).
Bioensayo P1 P2 P3
EAC0(7) EAC1 (7) EAC2 (7)
Erizo de mar 0.879 0.694 0.508
 
Table 4. Cutoff values for metals in wild mussels (mg/kg DW).
Metais P1 P2 P3
BAC MEDIUM(8) HIGH(9)
Cadmio (Cd) 0.96 4 10
Cobre (Cu) 6 17 40
Chumbo(Pb) 1.3 4 7
Mercurio (Hg) 0.09 0.18 0.36
Table 5. Cutoff values for PAHs in wild mussels (µg/kg DW).
HAPs P1 P2 ​P3
BC(10) CCAC(11) BAC EUR(12) EAC(13)
Fenanthrene (Phe) 4 - 11 - 1700
Anthracene (Ant) - 0.44 2.7 - 290
Benzo (a) Anthracene (BaA) 1.0 - 2.5 - 80
Benzo (a) Pirene (BaP) 0.5 - 1.4 25 -
 

Notes:

  • (1) BAC: Background Assessment Concentration. Ospar Commission, 2013. Levels and trends in marine contaminants and their biological effects – CEMP Assessment report 2012. OSPAR Commission, 2013. Publication 596/2013: 1-29.  [pdf]
  • (2) ERL: Effects Range-Low, ERM: Effects Range-Median. Long ER, MacDonald, DD, Smith, SL and Calder, FD 1995. Incidence of adverse biological effects of chemical Concentrations Within ranges in marine and estuarine sediments. Environ. Manage, 19: 81-97. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02472006
  • (3) SQCM: Sediment Quality Criteria values ​​in minimal-effects range. Bellas, J., Nieto, O. and Beiras, R. 2011. Integrative assessment of coastal pollution: Development and evaluation of sediment quality criteria from chemical contamination and Ecotoxicological data. Continental Shelf Research, 31 (5): 448-456. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2010.04.012
  • (4) ERM: Effects Range-Median. Long ER, MacDonald, DD, Smith, SL and Calder, FD 1995. Incidence of adverse biological effects of chemical Concentrations Within ranges in marine and estuarine sediments. Environ. Manage, 19: 81-97. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02472006
  • (5) TEL: Threshold Effects Level. MacDonald, DD, Carr, RS, Calder, FD, Long, ER and Ingersoll, G.1996. Development and evaluation of sediment quality guidelines for Florida coastal waters. Ecotoxicology, 5:253-278. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00118995
  • (6) PEL: Probable Effects Level. MacDonald, DD, Carr, RS, Calder, FD, Long, ER and Ingersoll, G.1996. Development and evaluation of sediment quality guidelines for Florida coastal waters. Ecotoxicology, 5:253-278. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00118995
  • (7) EAC: Ecotoxicological Assessment Criteria. Duran, I. and Beiras, R. 2010. Assessment criteria for using the sea-urchin embryo test with sediment elutriates as a tool to classify the Ecotoxicological status of marine water bodies. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 29 (5):1192-1198. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/etc.136
  • (8) MEDIUM: NOAA's thresholds for concentration ranges. Kimbrough, K. L., Johnson, W. E., Lauenstein, G. G., Christensen, J. D. ,& Apeti, D. A. 2008. An Assessment of Two Decades of Contaminant Monitoring in the Nation’s Coastal Zone. Silver Spring, MD. NOAA Tech. Memo. NOS NCCOS; 74: 1-105. [pdf]
  • (9) HIGH: NOAA's thresholds for concentration ranges. Kimbrough, K. L., Johnson, W. E., Lauenstein, G. G., Christensen, J. D. ,& Apeti, D. A. 2008. An Assessment of Two Decades of Contaminant Monitoring in the Nation’s Coastal Zone. Silver Spring, MD. NOAA Tech. Memo. NOS NCCOS; 74: 1-105. [pdf]
  • (10) BC: Background Concentration. Ospar Commision, 2013. Levels and trends in marine contaminants and their biological effects – CEMP Assessment report 2012. OSPAR Commission, 2013. Publication 596/2013: 1-29. [pdf]
  • (11) CCAC: CRISISMAR's thresholds for concentrations ranges. Environmental Quality Criteria for Marine Ecosystems. Research Project CRISISMAR, Ref. CTM 2009-10908: 1-20.
  • (12) EUR: Commission Regulation (EU) No 835/2011 of 19 August 2011 amending Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 as regards maximum levels for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in foodstuffs Text with EEA relevance.[pdf]
  • (13) EAC: Ecotoxicological Assessment Criteria. Ospar Commision, 2013. Levels and trends in marine contaminants and their biological effects – CEMP Assessment report 2012. OSPAR Commission, 2013. Publication 596/2013: 1-29. [pdf]

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