Assessment criteria for contaminants and biological effects in biota


Metals

Two assessment criteria are used to assess the status of metal concentrations: the

  • Background Assessment Concentration (BAC)
  • European Commission food standard (EC)

BACs were developed within the Oslo and Paris Commission framework with scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Mean concentrations significantly below the BAC are said to be near background.

ECs are used in the absence of any satisfactory criteria for assessing the ecological significance of metal concentrations. ECs are the maximum acceptable concentrations in food for the protection of public health.

BACs and ECs are available for the following metals


BAC EC
mussels oysters   fish   fish and bivalves crustaceans
Cadmium   960 3000 26 1000 500
Copper 6000 6000
Mercury     90   180 35   500 500
Lead 1300 1300 26 1500 500
Zinc 63000   63000  


Notes:

  • BAC units are \(\mu\)g kg\(^{-1}\) dw for mussels and oysters and \(\mu\)g kg\(^{-1}\) ww for fish
  • EC units are \(\mu\)g kg\(^{-1}\) ww
  • cadmium and liver are usually monitored in fish liver for which no food standard exists; concentrations in fish liver are naturally higher than in fish muscle, so the food standards for fish muscle are not used; instead the food standards for shellfish are used as a proxy
  • BACs and EACs are converted to other bases (wet, dry or lipid weight) using species-specific conversion factors


PAHs

Two assessment criteria are used to assess the status of PAH concentrations: the

  • Background Assessment Concentration (BAC)
  • Environmental Assessment Criteria (EAC)

The assessment criteria were developed within the Oslo and Paris Commission framework with scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Mean concentrations significantly below the BAC are said to be near background. Concentrations below the EAC should not cause any chronic effects on marine organisms.

BACs and EACs are available for the following PAHs


BAC EAC
mussels and oysters shellfish
Naphthalene  340
Phenanthrene 11.0  1700 
Anthracene  290
Fluoranthene 12.2   110
Pyrene  9.0  100
Benz[a]anthracene  2.5    80
Chrysene (Triphenylene)  8.1
Benzo[a]pyrene  1.4  600
Benzo[ghi]perylene  2.5  110
Indeno[123-cd]pyrene  2.4


Notes:

  • units are \(\mu\)g kg\(^{-1}\) dw
  • BACs and EACs are converted to other bases (wet, dry or lipid weight) using species-specific conversion factors
  • PAHs are not routinely monitored in fish, so no BACs and EACs for fish have been derived


Chlorobiphenyls

Two assessment criteria are used to assess the status of chlorobiphenyl concentrations: the

  • Background Assessment Concentration (BAC)
  • Environmental Assessment Criteria (EAC)

The assessment criteria were developed within the Oslo and Paris Commission framework with scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Mean concentrations significantly below the BAC are said to be near background. Concentrations below the EAC should not cause any chronic effects on marine organisms.

BACs and EACs are available for the following chlorobiphenyls


BAC EAC
mussels and oysters fish all species
CB28 0.75 0.10   67
CB52 0.75 0.08 108
CB101 0.70 0.08 121
CB105 0.75 0.08
CB118 0.60 0.10   25
CB138 0.60 0.09 317
CB153 0.60 0.10 1585  
CB156 0.60 0.08
CB180 0.60 0.11 469


Notes:

  • BAC units are \(\mu\)g kg\(^{-1}\) dw for mussels and oysters and \(\mu\)g kg\(^{-1}\) ww for fish
  • EAC units are \(\mu\)g kg\(^{-1}\) lw
  • BACs and EACs are converted to other bases (wet, dry or lipid weight) using species-specific conversion factors
  • the EACs are based on partitioning theory and are sometimes known as EAC\(^{\text{passive}}\)


Organo-bromines

Two assessment criteria are used to assess the status of organo-bromine concentrations: the

  • Background Assessment Concentration (BAC)
  • Federal Environmental Quality Guideline (FEQG)

BACs were developed within the Oslo and Paris Commission framework with scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Mean concentrations significantly below the BAC are said to be near background.

FEQGs were developed under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999. Concentrations below the FEQG should not cause any chronic effects on marine organisms.

The BACs and FEQGs are currently being used on a trial basis.

BACs and FEQGs are available for the following organo-bromines


BAC FEQG
bivalves fish all species
BDE28 120 
BDE47 0.009 0.012  44
BDE99    1
BD100    1
BD153    4
BD154    4


Notes:


Bile metabolites

Two assessment criteria are used to assess the status of bile metabolite concentrations: the

  • Background Assessment Concentration (BAC)
  • Environmental Assessment Criteria (EAC)

The assessment criteria were developed within the Oslo and Paris Commission framework with scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Mean values significantly below the BAC are said to be near background and values below the EAC indicate no chronic effects on the organisms concerned.

BACs and EACs are available for the following bile metabolites:


bile metabolite species common name method BAC EAC
1-OH pyrene Gadus morhua cod HPLC-F 21.00
GC-MS 483
Limanda limanda dab HPLC-F 16.00
Platichthys flesus flounder HPLC-F 16.00
Melanogrammus aeglefinus haddock HPLC-F 13.00
1-OH pyrene equivalents Gadus morhua cod SSF 1.10 35
Limanda limanda dab SSF 0.15 22
Platichthys flesus flounder SSF 1.30 29
Melanogrammus aeglefinus haddock SSF 1.90 35
1-OH phenanthrene Gadus morhua cod HPLC-F 2.70
GC-MS 528
Limanda limanda dab HPLC-F 3.70
Platichthys flesus flounder HPLC-F 3.70
Melanogrammus aeglefinus haddock HPLC-F 0.80


Notes:

  • HPLC-F is high performance liquid chromatography - fluorescence, GC-MS is gas chromatography - mass spectrometry, and SSF is synchronous scan fluorescence 341/383 nm
  • units are ng ml\(^{-1}\) for HPLC-F, ng g\(^{-1}\) for GC-MS, and pyrene-type \(\mu\)g ml\(^{-1}\) for SSF
  • the proliferation of methods and units are a mystery to all those who have not devoted their lives to the study of bile metabolites

EROD

The Background Assessment Concentration (BAC) is used to assess the status of EROD activity. BACs were were developed within the Oslo and Paris Commission framework with scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Mean values significantly below the BAC are said to be near background. There are no Environmental Assessment Criteria (or equivalent) for EROD.


species common name sex matrix BAC
Gadus morhua cod both liver microsome 145.0
Limanda limanda dab female liver S9 178.0
male liver S9 147.0
both liver microsome 680.0
Callionymus lyra dragonet both liver microsome 202.0
Platichthys flesus flounder male liver S9 24.0
Lepidorhombus boscii four spotted megrim both liver microsome 13.0
Pleuronectes platessa plaice male liver S9 9.5
both liver microsome 255.0
Mullus barbatus red mullet male liver S9 208.0


Notes:

  • units are pmol min\(^{-1}\) mg S9 protein\(^{-1}\) or pmol min\(^{-1}\) mg microsomal protein\(^{-1}\) for the liver S9 and liver microsome matrices respectively


Imposex

Two assessment criteria are used to assess the status of imposex (VDS) levels: the

  • Background Assessment Concentration (BAC)
  • Environmental Assessment Criteria (EAC)

The assessment criteria were developed within the Oslo and Paris Commission framework with scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Mean values significantly below the BAC are said to be near background and values below the EAC indicate no chronic effects on the organisms concerned.


measure species common name BAC EAC
VDS Nucella lapillus dog whelk 0.3 2.0
VDS Neptunea antiqua red whelk 0.3 2.0
VDS Nassarius reticulatus netted dog whelk 0.3