Establishment of site-specific sediment quality guidelines for the Coast of São Paulo state: scientific basis for the creation of a national legislation

Abstract

Sediment contamination on coastal zone may represent ecological risks for the maintenance of environmental quality and biodiversity conservation, which undermines the safety of resources and services provided by these environments, in addition to cause impacts and economic losses. In many countries, legislation and guidelines have been established to assist in the monitoring and management actions. Such protocols recommend the use of sediment quality values (SQV), which correspond to reference values that reflect the relationship between the concentrations of a chemical in sediments with adverse biological effects related to such exposure (both threshold and probable effects levels), establishing thus, levels of contamination and environmental quality. In Brazil there is a lack of legislation addressing the quality of sediments, there is only one resolution for water quality and another one to deal with the management of dredged material. In this sense, this research project proposes the development of site-specific SQVs for concentrations of contaminants in sediments from São Paulo state by compiling results of integrated assessments and production of ecotoxicological data in representative areas of the Coastal Zone, including protected areas. It is expected that the results of this study can provide basis for the creation of a legislation to deal with sediment quality issue, in order to assist in monitoring, policy and management actions in coastal environments. (AU)