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Impaired benthic macrofauna function 4 years after sediment capping with activated carbon in the Grenland fjords, Norway
- Source :
- 16181-16197, Environmental science and pollution research international, Environmental Science and Pollution Research International
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Springer, 2021.
-
Abstract
- The sediments in the Grenland fjords in southern Norway are heavily contaminated by large emissions of dioxins and mercury from historic industrial activities. As a possible in situ remediation option, thin-layer sediment surface capping with powdered activated carbon (AC) mixed with clay was applied at two large test sites (10,000 and 40,000 m2) at 30-m and 95-m depths, respectively, in 2009. This paper describes the long-term biological effects of the AC treatment on marine benthic communities up to 4 years after treatment. Our results show that the capping with AC strongly reduced the benthic species diversity, abundance, and biomass by up to 90%. Vital functions in the benthic ecosystem such as particle reworking and bioirrigation of the sediment were also reduced, analyzed by using novel bioturbation and bioirrigation indices (BPc, BIPc, and IPc). Much of the initial effects observed after 1 and 14 months were still present after 49 months, indicating that the effects are long-lasting. These long-lasting negative ecological effects should be carefully considered before decisions are made on sediment remediation with powdered AC, especially in large areas, since important ecosystem functions can be impaired.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
Geologic Sediments
Powdered activated carbon treatment
Environmental remediation
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Remediation
Fjord
010501 environmental sciences
01 natural sciences
Environmental Chemistry
Ecosystem
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
geography
geography.geographical_feature_category
Norway
010604 marine biology & hydrobiology
Bioirrigation
Sediment
General Medicine
Pollution
Index
Benthic ecology
Contaminated sediment
Benthic zone
Charcoal
Environmental chemistry
Environmental science
Macrofauna
Bioturbation
Estuaries
Research Article
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- 16181-16197, Environmental science and pollution research international, Environmental Science and Pollution Research International
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....b62d8f9a3bca48448c5ef2f585c3bdba