Publications—Open-File Report 99–240
By Denny R. Buckler and Gregory E. Granato
U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 99–240
A Contribution to the National Highway Runoff Data and Methodology Synthesis.
ONLINE ONLY
This report is available in Portable Document Format (PDF):
OFR 99–240 (404 KB) – 53
pages
Increased emphasis on evaluation of
nonpoint-source pollution has intensified the need
for techniques that can be used to discern the toxicological
effects of complex chemical mixtures. In
response, the use of biological assessment techniques
is receiving increased regulatory emphasis.
When applied with documented habitat assessment
and chemical analysis, these techniques can
increase our understanding of the influence of
environmental contaminants on the biological
integrity and ecological function of aquatic communities.
The contaminants of greatest potential concern
in highway runoff are those that arise from
highway construction, maintenance, and use. The
major contaminants of interest are deicers; nutrients;
metals; petroleum-related organic compounds,
such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs), benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and
xylene (BTEX), and methyl
tert
-butyl ether
(MTBE); sediment washed off the road surface;
and agricultural chemicals used in highway
maintenance.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of biological
endpoints (measurable responses of living organisms)
may be either directly or associatively
affected by contaminant exposure. Measurable
effects can occur throughout ecosystem processes
across the wide range of biological complexity,
ranging from responses at the biochemical level to
the community level.
The challenge to the environmental scientist
is to develop an understanding of the relationship
of effects at various levels of biological organization
in order to determine whether a causal relationship
exists between chemical exposure and
substantial ecological impairment. This report provides
a brief history of the evolution of biological
assessment techniques, a description of the major
classes of contaminants that are of particular interest
in highway runoff, an overview of representative
biological assessment techniques, and a
discussion of data-quality considerations.
Published reports with a focus on the effects
of highway runoff on the local ecosystem were
reviewed to provide information on (1) the suitability
of the existing data for a quantitative
national synthesis, (2) the methods available to
study the effects of highway runoff on local ecosystems,
and (3) the potential for adverse effects
on the roadside environment and receiving waters.
Although many biological studies have been done,
the use of different methods and a general lack of
sufficient documentation precludes a quantitative
national synthesis on the basis of the existing data.
The Federal Highway Administration, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S.
Geological Survey, the Intergovernmental Task
Force on Monitoring Water Quality, and the National Resources Conservation Service all have
developed and documented methods for assessing
the effects of contaminants on ecosystems in
receiving waters. These published methods can be
used to formulate a set of protocols to provide
consistent information from highway-runoff
studies.
Review of the literature indicates (qualitatively)
that highway runoff (even from highways
with high traffic volume) may not usually be
acutely toxic. Tissue analysis and community
assessments, however, indicate effects from highway-
runoff sediments near discharge points (even
from sites near highways with relatively low traffic
volumes). At many sites, elevated concentrations
of highway-runoff constituents were measured in
tissues of species associated with aquatic sediments.
Community assessments also indicate
decreases in the diversity and productivity of
aquatic ecosystems at some sites receiving highway
runoff. These results are not definitive, however,
and depend on many site-specific criteria that
were not sufficiently documented in most of the
studies reviewed.
Abstract
Introduction
Background
Purpose and Scope
Factors for Assessing Biological Effects
Contaminants of Interest
Other Factors
Biological Assessment Techniques
Biochemical, Physiological, and Histological Techniques
Metal Sequestration and Regulation
Oxidative Metabolism
Reproductive Parameters
Histopathology
Tissue Analysis
Semipermeable Membrane Devices
Whole-Organism and Single-Species Techniques
Microbial Assays
Algal Assays
Aquatic Invertebrate Assays
Early Life-Stage Toxicity Studies with Fish
In-Situ Toxicity Assessment
Population and Community Techniques.
Algal Population and Community Assessments.
Aquatic Invertebrate Population and Community Assessments
Fish Population and Community Assessments
Data-Quality Considerations
Documentation of Methods
Quality Assurance and Quality Control
Description of Environmental Setting
Comparability Issues for a National Synthesis
Biological Effects of Highway-Runoff Quality: A Literature Review
Factors for Assessing Biological Effects
Biological Assessment Techniques
Data-Quality Considerations
Summary
References
This report is available online in Portable Document Format (PDF). If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader, it is available for free download from Adobe Systems Incorporated.
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Suggested Citation:
Buckler, D.R., Granato, G.E., 1999, Assessing biological effects from highway-runoff constituents: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 99-240, 45 p.
For additional information write to:
Director,
USGS Massachusetts–Rhode Island Water Science Center
10 Bearfoot Road
Northborough, MA 01532or visit our Web site at:
http://ma.water.usgs.gov
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