A Review of Mechanistic Models for Predicting Adverse Effects in Sediment Toxicity Testing

Robert M Burgess; Susan Kane Driscoll; Adriana C Bejarano; Craig Warren Davis; Joop L M Hermens; Aaron D Redman; Michiel T O Jonker

doi:10.1002/etc.5789

A Review of Mechanistic Models for Predicting Adverse Effects in Sediment Toxicity Testing

Environ Toxicol Chem. 2023 Nov 17. doi: 10.1002/etc.5789. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Robert M Burgess¹, Susan Kane Driscoll², Adriana C Bejarano³, Craig Warren Davis⁴, Joop L M Hermens⁵, Aaron D Redman⁴, Michiel T O Jonker⁵

Affiliations

¹ Office of Research and Development/Center for Environmental Measurement and Modeling/Atlantic Coastal Environmental Sciences Division, US Environmental Protection Agency, Narragansett, Rhode Island, USA.
² Exponent, Maynard, Massachusetts, USA.
³ Shell Global Solutions, Houston, Texas, USA.
⁴ ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences, Annandale, New Jersey, USA.
⁵ Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.

PMID: 37975556
DOI: 10.1002/etc.5789

Abstract

Since recognizing the importance of bioavailability for understanding the toxicity of chemicals in sediments, mechanistic modeling has advanced over the last 40 years by building better tools for estimating exposure and making predictions of probable adverse effects. Our review provides an up-to-date survey of the status of mechanistic modeling in contaminated sediment toxicity assessments. Relative to exposure, advances have been most substantial for non-ionic organic contaminants (NOCs) and divalent cationic metals, with several equilibrium partitioning-based (Eq-P) models having been developed. This has included the use of Abraham equations to estimate partition coefficients for environmental media. As a result of the complexity of their partitioning behavior, progress has been less substantial for ionic/polar organic contaminants. When the EqP-based estimates of exposure and bioavailability are combined with water-only effects measurements, predictions of sediment toxicity can be successfully made for NOCs and selected metals. Both species sensitivity distributions and toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic models are increasingly being applied to better predict contaminated sediment toxicity. Furthermore, for some classes of contaminants, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, adverse effects can be modeled as mixtures, making the models useful in real-world applications, where contaminants seldomly occur individually. Despite the impressive advances in the development and application of mechanistic models to predict sediment toxicity, several critical research needs remain to be addressed. These needs and others represent the next frontier in the continuing development and application of mechanistic models for informing environmental scientists, managers, and decisions makers of the risks associated with contaminated sediments. Environ Toxicol Chem 2023;00:1-17. © 2023 SETAC. This article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.

Keywords: Acute and sublethal toxicity; Cationic divalent metals; Mechanistic modeling; Passive sampling; Polar and nonpolar organic chemicals; Sediment toxicity; Species sensitivity distributions.

Publication types

Review