Historical Global Review of Acid-Volatile Sulfide Sediment Monitoring Data

Abstract

Acid-volatile sulfides (AVS) are strongly associated with the bioavailability of some divalent metals such as cadmium, copper, lead, nickel and zinc. However, the global spatial variability of AVS for aquatic systems is unknown. The specific goals of this study were to: (1) summarize all available AVS monitoring data from all types of freshwater and saltwater waterbodies (streams/creeks, rivers, lakes/ponds/reservoirs and estuarine/marine areas) and (2) compare AVS concentrations from these various types of waterbodies considering both soil type classification and biomes. AVS measurements were reported from 21 different countries. A total of 17 different soil types were reported for all waterbody types and both podzols and luvisols were found in all waterbody types. Nine different biomes were sampled for all waterbody types. The temperate broadleaf and mixed forest biome was sampled for AVS in all waterbody types. Mean AVS concentrations ranged from 0.01 to 503 µmoles/g for 140 different waterbody types and the 90th centile for all these waterbodies was 49.4 µmoles/g. A ranking of waterbody type means from low to high AVS measurements showed the lowest mean value was reported for streams/creeks (5.12 µmoles/g; range from 0.1 to 39.8 µmoles/g) followed by lakes/ponds/reservoirs (11.3 µmoles/g; range from 0.79 to 127 µmoles/g); estuarine/marine areas (27.2 µmoles/g; range from 0.06 to 503 µmoles/g) and rivers (27.7 µmoles/g; range from 1.13 to 197 µmoles/g). The data provided in this study are compelling as it showed that the high variability of AVS measurements within each waterbody type as well as the variability of AVS within specific locations were often multiple orders of magnitude differences for concentration ranges. Therefore, a comprehensive spatial and temporal scale sampling of AVS in concert with divalent metals analysis is critical to avoid possible errors when evaluating the potential ecological risk of divalent metals in sediment.