ASTM E1391-03(2023) PDF

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE 5.1 Sediment toxicity evaluations are a critical component of environmental quality and ecosystem impact assessments, and are used to meet a variety of research and regulatory objectives. The manner in which the sediments are collected, stored, characterized, and manipulated can influence the results of any sediment quality or process evaluation greatly. Addressing these variables in a systematic and uniform manner will aid the interpretations of sediment toxicity or bioaccumulation results and may allow comparisons between studies. 5.2 Sediment quality assessment is an important component of water quality protection. Sediment assessments commonly include physicochemical characterization, toxicity tests or bioaccumulation tests, as well as benthic community analyses. The use of consistent sediment collection, manipulation, and storage methods will help provide high quality samples with which accurate data can be obtained for the national inventory and for other programs to prevent, remediate, and manage contaminated sediment. 5.3 It is now widely known that the methods used in sample collection, transport, handling, storage, and manipulation of sediments and interstitial waters can influence the physicochemical properties and the results of chemical, toxicity, and bioaccumulation analyses. Addressing these variables in an appropriate and systematic manner will provide more accurate sediment quality data and facilitate comparisons among sediment studies. 5.4 This standard provides current information and recommendations for collecting and handling sediments for physicochemical characterization and biological testing, using procedures that are most likely to maintain in situ conditions, most accurately represent the sediment in question, or satisfy particular needs, to help generate consistent, high quality data collection. 5.5 This standard is intended to provide technical support to those who design or perform sediment quality studies under a variety of ... SCOPE 1.1 This guide covers procedures for obtaining, storing, characterizing, and manipulating marine, estuarine, and freshwater sediments, for use in laboratory sediment toxicity evaluations and describes samplers that can be used to collect sediment and benthic invertebrates (Annex A1). This standard is not meant to provide detailed guidance for all aspects of sediment assessments, such as chemical analyses or monitoring, geophysical characterization, or extractable phase and fractionation analyses. However, some of this information might have applications for some of these activities. A variety of methods are reviewed in this guide. A statement on the consensus approach then follows this review of the methods. This consensus approach has been included in order to foster consistency among studies. It is anticipated that recommended methods and this guide will be updated routinely to reflect progress in our understanding of sediments and how to best study them. This version of the standard is based primarily on a document developed by USEPA (2001 (1))2 and by Environment Canada (1994 (2)) as well as an earlier version of this standard. 1.2 Protecting sediment quality is an important part of restoring and maintaining the biological integrity of our natural resources as well as protecting aquatic life, wildlife, and human health. Sediment is an integral component of aquatic ecosystems, providing habitat, feeding, spawning, and rearing areas for many aquatic organisms (MacDonald and Ingersoll 2002 a, b (3)(4)). Sediment also serves as a reservoir for contaminants in sediment and therefore a potential source of contaminants to the water column, organisms, and ultimately human consumers of those organisms. These contaminants can arise from a number of sources, including municipal and industrial discharges, urban and agricultural runoff, atmospheric deposition, and port operations. 1.3 Contaminated sediment can cause lethal ...