WERF Research Report Ser.: Developing Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Mercury : A Probabalistic Site-Specific Approach by A Pawlisz, D. R. J. Moore and R. S. Teed (2003, Trade Paperback)
This project examined the development of ambient water quality criteria (AWQC) for the protection of wildlife for mercury. Mercury is considered a serious risk to wildlife in many areas. As a result, the Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative and others have developed AWQC. These AWQC have been controversial, however, because (1) the AWQC were single values that did not account for site-specific conditions; (2) derivation of the AWQC relied on a single NOAEL, and (3) the AWQC had an unknown level of conservatism because of reliance on both average and conservative assumptions and uncertainty factors. Rather than develop a single value AWQC for total mercury, we derive an AWQC model that explicitly incorporates factors controlling bioavailability, methylation rates and bioaccumulation in the aquatic environment (e.g., pH, DOC, sulfate). To derive our AWQC model, field data was collected including numerous water quality parameters and total mercury and methylmercury concentrations in whole body fish tissue from 31 lakes in Ontario and an additional 10 lakes in Nova Scotia. An independent dataset consisting of 51 water bodies in the United States was then used to confirm the validity and robustness of the AWQC model. Next we combined the results of chronic-feeding studies with similar protocols and endpoints, in a meta-analysis to derive a dose-response curve for mink exposed to mercury in the diet. Using this approach, one can derive an LD5 or other similar endpoint that can then be used as the basis for deriving -wildlife AWQC. In the final step, we used a probabilistic risk model to estimate the concentrations of methylmercury in water that would lead to levels in fish sufficient for there to be a 10% probability of exceeding the mink LD5. This analysis was repeated for various combinations of pH and DOC. The result is an AWQC model for mercury for the protection of wildlife that can be used for a variety of site-specific conditions.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Iwa Publishing
ISBN-10
1843396378
ISBN-13
9781843396376
eBay Product ID (ePID)
30974143
Product Key Features
Author
A Pawlisz, R. S. Teed, D. R. J. Moore
Publication Name
Developing Ambient Water Quality Criteria for Mercury : a Probabalistic Site-Specific Approach
Format
Trade Paperback
Language
English
Series
Werf Research REPORT Ser.
Publication Year
2003
Type
Textbook
Number of Pages
346 Pages
Dimensions
Item Length
9.2in
Item Height
0.7in
Item Width
6.1in
Additional Product Features
Lc Classification Number
Td427.M4d477 2003
Copyright Date
2003
Target Audience
College Audience
Topic
Environmental / Water Supply, Environmental Science (See Also Chemistry / Environmental), Applied Sciences, Environmental / General, Chemistry / General