Sediment quality values (SQVs) and ecological risk assessment (ERA)

A wide variety of sediment quality values (SQVs) have been promulgated. Ecological risk assessment (ERA) provides a framework for objectively and systematically evaluating the risks posed by environmental contamination to ecological resources. SQV application to ERA should be restricted to the initial problem formulation stage where they can be used either alone (i.e., in jurisdictions with accepted SQVs) or in a weight-of-evidence approach (i.e., multiple SQV types; in jurisdictions without accepted SQVs) to screen out contaminants posing negligible risks to ecological receptors. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.