Sediment pollution in the Elbe estuary and its potential toxicity at different trophic levels

Sediment contamination is one of the most pressing environmental problems in estuaries of industrialized countries and is of special interest to water managers involved in waterway maintenance dredging. In the present study, eight heavy metals (As, Pb, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Hg, and Zn) and 41 organic compounds (pentachlorbenzol (PeCB), hexachlorbenzol (HCB), 7 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), the hexachlorocyclohexanes α-HCH, β-HCH, γ-HCH, 6 dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane isomers, organochlorine styrene (OCS), octachloronaphthalene (OCN), 15 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and 6 organotin (OT) compounds) were analyzed in surface sediments at 36 sites in the Elbe estuary in 2006. Correlation analysis showed a general decrease in sediment contaminant concentrations from the stations near the port of Hamburg towards the open sea. This decrease was significant (Spearman's rank correlation, p