The use of simultaneously extracted metal/acid volatile sulfide analysis for trace metal bioavailability determinations in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island sediments

A high correlation between sediment analysis and toxicity testing results is important for development of sediment quality criteria. Acid Volatile Sulfide (AVS) has been shown to be a reactive pool of sulfide available to bind metals and render them non-toxic. The authors designed a study to investigate the relationship between Simultaneously Extracted Metals/Acid Volatile Sulfide (SEM/AVS) and sediment toxicity that compared the results of chemistry studies (SEM/AVS and pore water trace metals) and toxicity studies (Ampelisca sediment toxicity test and Arbacia pore water toxicity test). Surface sediments were collected in the spring of 1995 from McAllister Point and Allen Harbor, Narragansett Bay Rhode Island, which are on the National Priorities List of Abandoned or Uncontrolled Hazardous Waste sites. Trace metal partitioning into the acid volatile sulfide phase and other phases was calculated to predict trace metal bioavailability. In general, SEM/AVS analysis correlated with sediment toxicity when the AVS concentration was greater than 1 uM/g dry sediment. Divalent trace metals are likely to be sequestered in an insoluble sulfide phase in high AVS environments and, in these environments, the SEM/AVS ratio is probably a useful measure of potential trace metal bioavailability.