EVALUATING THE USE OF INVITRO BIOASSAYS FOR THE ECOTOXICOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF MASAN BAY SEDIMENTS IN COMBINATION WITH CHEMICALANALYSES

Abstract

An assessment methodology combining ecotoxicological and chemical evaluations is described to assess the quality of coastal sediments. Three invitrobioassays,namely,AChE assay, E- assay(+) and CALUX have been performed in order to assess the neurotoxic, estrogenic effects of dioxin-like chemical contamination in Masan Bay sediments. 24 sediment samples have been collected in Masan Bay, Korea a heavily impacted ecosystem because of rapid development in recent years. Spearman correlation coefficient identifies close links between chemical measurement of a toxicant and its biological effects through the bioassays. Significant induced AChE activity was measured at site 12 and 15 where high levels of dioxin-like contaminants were determined as well. Thus CALUX bioassay showed high correlation (R=0.75) with APs, PCDD and PCDFs at sites 12 and 15. Good correlation was obtained for BTs-AChE, CHLs-AChE and APs-AChE, respectively. Significant induction of E-assay was seen at sampling sites 5, 12 and 15. Among CHLs-E-assay (+), Co-PCB-E-assay and DDT-E-assay (+) correlation coefficients of 0.77, 0.77 and 0.65 were obtained respectively. This approach offers an integrated potential of assessing complex matrix such as sediment with multiple contaminant enrichment for further research.