Physico-chemical and toxicological characterization of the historic estuarine sediments: a multidisciplinary approach

The accumulation rates, the geochronology of metals and PAH contamination, and the Microtox® toxicity are studied in five sediment cores (50 cm length) covering different areas of the Santander Bay, Northern Spain. Chronology given by 210Pb and 137Cs reveals significant differences in accumulation rates between sites (0.2–1.1 cm/year), as well as a variable degree of anthropogenic enrichment factors for Fe, Mn, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni (from 1 to 15) and concentrations of ∑16PAHs (from 0.01 to 23.84 mg/kg dw) in sediments over the last 90 years. The results indicate the increasing contamination pressure from industrial and urban activities along the Bay. No toxic results from the Microtox® test are obtained either with pore water or with normalised sediment aqueous extracts (European Norm EN 12457), suggesting low water solubility and low availability of contaminants in the studied sediments. However, the EC50 values from the Microtox® Basic Solid Phase Test (BSPT) ranged from 0.03% to 2.35%, showing vertical toxicity profiles in accordance with metal and PAHs behaviour. The correlation degrees of Microtox® BSPT toxicity to chemical concentration in sediment profiles are widely variable showing a high site-dependent toxicity. The oligochaete Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri has been used as a chronic bioassay over surface sediments of two of the studied sites, showing results coherent with the Microtox® BSPT acute test results. Global results of the present work provide regional geochemical baselines for metals and PAHs and toxicological data now make it possible to obtain a preliminary quality assessment of the Santander Bay sediment profiles. Keywords: Sediments, Quality assessment, Heavy metals, PAHs, 210Pb and 137Cs dating, Microtox®, Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri, Santander Bay