Contamination and correlation with toxicity of sediment samples from the Skagerrak and Kattegat

The pollution state in the Skagerrak and Kattegat was investigated by determination of pollutant concentrations and toxicity of sediment samples from 11 stations in the area. A comparison was made with the sediment from a reference site near the Faroe Islands. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and organochlorines were determined in whole sediment and heavy metals and ammonia were analysed in filtered pore water. Toxicity was bioassayed in whole sediment with Nitocra spinipes and Daphnia magna, in pore water with Mytilus edulis larvae and in solvent extracts from sediment with tests measuring etoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity in Oncorhyncus mykiss and rate of denitrification. Sites close to Goteborg and in an area from the Oslo fjord to the Norwegian Trench were most polluted. Sediment from the Faroe Islands was least polluted and also least toxic. Multivariate statistical analysis indicates that the different tests were sensitive to different kinds of pollutants. Effects on mussel larvae correlated strongest with the occurrence of ammonia, manganese, cadmium and PAHs, Nitocra with alpha-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) and p,p'-DDD, Daphnia with arsenic and gamma-HCH, fish EROD activity with benzo[ghi]perylene and unknown compounds associated with organic carbon, and denitrification with chlordanes, dieldrin and a few PAHs. The results indicate that sampling sites close to Goteborg are so polluted that harmful effects on the ecosystem probably occur.