Acid-Volatile Sulfide as a Factor Mediating Cadmium and Nickel Bioavailability inContaminated Sediments

摘要

The authors investigated the influence of sulfide, measured as acid-volatilesulfide (AVS), on the bioavailability of cadmium and nickel in sediments. Seventeen samples from an estuarine system heavily contaminated with cadmium and nickel were analyzed for AVS and simultaneously extracted metals (SEM) and tested in 10-d exposures with the amphipod Hyalella azteca and the oligochaete Lumbriculus variegatus. Molar SEM(cadmium + nickel)/AVS ratios in the sediments ranged from less than one to greater than 200, with several in the range of 1 to 10. Samples with SEM/AVS ratios greater than one were consistently toxic to Hyalella azteca, whereas sediments with ratios less than one were not. Lumbriculus variegatus was less sensitive to the test sediments than Hyalella azteca, which was consistent with their relative sensitivity to cadmium and nickel in water-only exposures. SEM/AVS ratios in the sediments also appeared to be important in determining bioaccumulation of metals by Lumbriculus variegatus. These results support other studies with metal-spiked samples in demonstrating the importance of AVS in determining metal bioavailability in sediments and suggest that AVS normalization is a reasonable means for assessing the hazard of some sediment-associated metals to aquatic ecosystems.