The role of acid‐volatile sulfide in determining cadmium bioavailability and toxicity in freshwater sediments

摘要

AbstractThe objective of this study was to determine if the acid‐volatile sulfide (AVS) content of freshwater sediments was important in limiting the bioavailability and toxicity of cadmium. Five different concentrations of cadmium were spiked into sediments with three different AVS concentrations, and 10‐d exposures with the oligochaeteLumbriculus variegatusand the snailHelisomasp. were conducted. Concurrent water‐only cadmium exposures were also conducted. When the cadmium‐to‐AVS ratios were ≤1, toxicity was not observed. At ratios ≤1, mean whole‐body cadmium residue concentrations of organisms were approximately equal to or less than the maximum residues obtained in survivors of the cadmium exposures in water only. These results corroborated the results of a previous experiment conducted with saltwater sediments and indicate that metal/AVS relationships could be used to establish numeric sediment quality criteria for use in the protection