Abstract

  The current recognition that chemical measurements are uncertain indicators of biological consequences of pollution has shifted the emphasis away from assessing environmental chemistry alone toward the inclusion of measurements of the health of organisms. Effects of pollutants begin with the individual, have subsequent repercussions on population level processes, and ramifications for community structure and functions. Pollutants act at a molecular level and the biochemical lesion is the first step in the manifestation of effects. Technologies that operate at the cellular level assist in elucidating toxicity. Higher levels of integration include an organism's capacity for growth. Laboratory bioassays and in situ research can monitor physiological incapacities and assist in predicting population level effects. A yet higher level of organization is that of the ecological community.

Keywords: sediment bioassays, chronic toxicity, biomarkers, sediment bioassessment