A deterministic ecological risk assessment for copper in European saltwater environments

The objective of this study was to conduct a deterministic aquatic ecologic al risk assessment of copper in surface waters (saltwater) of Europe. A Haz ard Quotient (HQ) approach defined as the Observed Environmental Concentrat ion (OEC)/Predicted No Effect Concentration (PNEC) was used to measure risk . Hazard Quotiernts greater than one suggest ecological risk and/or the nee d for additional analysis (probabilistic analysis) or data collection. The dissolved copper concentrations used fbr the OEC values came mainly from ar eas of the Mediterranean Sea, the Baltic Sea, and the North Sea and consist ed of measured copper concentrations from eight studies in marinas/harbors, ten studies in estuaries, and twenty-two studies in open sea regions. In a majority of cases, the geometric mean of the individual measurements was c alculated to represent the typical concentration of dissolved copper expect ed to occur at that site. The overall geometric means of dissolved copper c oncentrations we re 1.53, 1.49, 0.68 and 1.07 mu g/l for pooled marinas/har bors, estuaries, coastal/open sea, and all sites, respectively. Maximum mea n values by station type were 16, 5.48 and 5.56 mu g/l for marina/harbors, estuaries and open sea/coastal areas, respectively. These copper exposure d ata are for total dissolved copper and reflect copper contributions from al l sources of copper such as natural erosion of earth crust, mining and smel ting, municipal and industrial wastewater effluents, pesticides, and antifo uling paints. The ecological effects data used far the PNEC were determined from 65 saltwater species (five plants; 36 benthos; 8 zooplankton; and 16 fish) tested in acute studies. The acute 5th percentile (PNEC) for all spec ies (protection level of 95%) was 5.6 mu g/l. Hazard Quotients greater than one were only reported for 3 of 101 stations. All three stations were loca ted in marina areas of either Saronic Gulf of Greece or Arachon Bay of Fran ce. Results from this risk assessment demonstrate that the probability of e cological risk from acute dissolved copper exposures in European saltwater environments is generally low. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights re served.