Sediment Toxicity and the Effects on Freshwater Mussel Recruitment

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Sediment Toxicity and the Effects on Freshwater
Mussel Recruitment
U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological
Survey
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Participating Agencies
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Objective

• Determine if there is a relation between coal
  concentrations, sediment and interstitial water
  chemistry, and mussel toxicity

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Sampling Approach

• Toxicity testing
• Bed sediment Analysis
• Interstitial Water Analysis
• Water quality
• Mussel shell and tissue
• Coal samples
• Settling Ponds

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Site Characterization

• Data from recent surveys, biologists
  observations
• Number of mussel species
• Presence/absence of TE mussels
• Recruitment ranking (none, poor, fair, good)
• Geologic setting (Valley and Ridge or Cumberland
  Plateau)

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Toxicity testing 2004

• 48-hour (water column and IW) - Ceriodaphnia
  dubia
• 7-day (IW) - Ceriodaphnia dubia
• 10-day (Sediment) - Daphnia magna
• 21-day Corbicula in-situ growth and survival
• 21-day (IW with Sediment) - Villosa iris

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Toxicity testing 2005

• 21-day (IW with Sediment) - Villosa iris
• 7-day (IW ) - Ceriodaphnia dubia
• 21-day (IW with Sediment) - Epioblasma
  capsaeformis

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Interstitial Water Analysis

• USGS Geologic Division Research Lab
• PAHs
• Major ions
• Nutrients
• DOC
• USGS WRD lab
• Trace elements
• Major ions
• Nutrients
• DOC
• Field parameters (pH, SC, turbidity, temp)

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Stream Bed Sediment

• Metals analysis - Geologic Division
• Organic analysis Geologic Division
• PAHs
• TOC - total organic carbon
• AVS acid volatile sulfides
• SEM/AVS simultaneously extracted metals FWS
• Sediment size distribution USGS KY sediment lab
• Percent coal - lithium heteropolytungstates (LST)
  - KY Sed Lab

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Water column analysis

• SPMD semi-permeable membrane devices for PAHs
• Field parameters (pH, SC, turbidity, temp)

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Mussel Shell and Tissue

• Common species from a few sites
• Pleurobema sintoxia and Actinonaias Pectorosa
• Mussel Tissue analysis for PAHs
• Thin section shell at VPI
• Laser Oblation GD minerals program lab in
  Denver

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2005 Interstitial Water
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Where do we go now?
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Questions?