Avaliação da qualidade do sedimento do estuário do rio Ceará

Abstract

The evaluation of sediment quality has been seen as a consistent and necessary extension of assessment programmes for water resources. Sediments are the most concerning of the compartments due characteristics that favour the deposition and accumulation of contaminants. Previous studies showed that the estuary of Ceará River is suffering contamination by industrial and domestic effluents, and that toxicity was observed in embryos of sea urchin exposed to water of the estuary. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the environmental quality of sediment samples from the estuary of Ceará River, through sediment characterization, quantification of metals and bioassays in several compartments of the sediment. Three Campaigns were conducted (Oct/06, Jan/07 and May/07) at four stations along the estuary. As reference, sediments of the estuaries of Malcozinhado and Pacoti rivers were sampled. Analysis of granulometry, carbonate, organic matter and of the metals Zn, Cu, Pb and Cr served to characterize the stations. Toxicity of the whole sediment was evaluated in bioassays with the amphipod Tiburonella viscana and the copepod Nitokra sp.; whilst embryos of the sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus were used in tests at the interface sediment/water and with aqueous elutriates. The characterization of the toxicity of elutriates was accomplished through chemical and physical manipulation for the Evaluation and Identification of Toxicity (TIE). We observed a gradient on percentages of mud, organic matter and metals with values decreasing toward the mouth. In general, the samples from the estuary of Ceará River were toxic on all routes of exposure. The test with amphipods showed good reproducibility, whilst the reproduction of copepods showed large variations in the control, amongst the campaigns. Toxicity was high for both tests with sea urchin embryos. Ammonia seems to have contributed to the toxicity observed in samples of elutriate, however, manipulation of addition of EDTA, Sodium thiosulfate, aeration, filtration and the macroalgae Ulva sp. reduced the toxicity. This suggests that apart from ammonia, other factors such as metals, and oxidizable volatile and particulated compounds contribute to the toxicity. Linear correlation and principal components analysis between abiotic parameters, metals and toxicity demonstrated that the parameters investigated do not fully explain the toxicity observed in this study. Despite the values of metals found in the Ceará River were low relative to other impacted estuaries, high levels of toxicity were identified in samples of sediment from the region