Ecological risk assessment for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in river sediments
沉积物中多环芳烃的生态风险评价法研究

Ecological risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediments is an important issue to protect the ecosystem. However, there is no generalized method for such assessment so far. Based on PAHs concentrations in surface sediment samples of the Pearl River in Guangzhou section, we applied the equilibrium partitioning method, the species sensitivity distribution method, and the probabilistic risk assessment method to characterize the ecological risk of PAHs in the river sediment. Results showed that the ecological risk of PAHs in the sediment was dominated by the solid-liquid phase partitioning process. By comparing the results of different methods, a procedure for assessing the ecological risk of PAHs in sediments was established as follows. Firstly, the distribution of PAHs in the sedimentary phase was transformed into the pore water exposure concentration distribution using the equilibrium partitioning approach. Secondly, a suitable ecological risk assessment method for water pollution was selected to meet the actual needs for following assessment. In the analysis of toxicity data, the chronic toxicity data should be used first.