A sensitive screening bioassay technique for the toxicological assessment of small quantities of contaminated bottom or suspended sediments

Biological impact assessment of sediment-bound contaminants is currently considered essential in addition to routine chemical characterization. Conventional methods of sediment bioassessment require relatively large quantities of the sample. When sample sizes are limited however, these methods become ineffective. To overcome this problem, the Limited Sample Bioassay (LSB) technique was developed. Bioassays conducted with bottom sediments and suspended particulates from western, central and Arctic regions of Canada indicated that the newly developed LSB technique successfully evaluated the contaminant/nutrient impact on laboratory-grown cultures of algae. The LSB method produced results which were comparable to those from standard elutriate bioassays conducted with natural phytoplankton size assemblages. The data suggest that the LSB can play an important role in providing a quick, simple, sensitive, and inexpensive screening technique for assessing the bioavailability of contaminants (or nutrients) from sediment of limited quantity.