Ecological risk assessment (ERA) is used to determine potential effect of human activities and industries on the natural environment. Numerous ERA management approaches exist and vary based on jurisdiction or ecological media. This ERA focused on contaminants within an aquatic ecosystem in sediments and surface water at South Baymouth port facility in Ontario, Canada. Contaminants were evaluated using the Canada-Ontario Decision-Making Framework for Assessment of Great Lakes Contaminated Sediments (COA). Following COA, this study (1) examined historical data from South Baymouth to determine contaminants of potential concern, (2) delineated potential contamination by comparing sediment and surface water concentration data to sediment quality guidelines and water quality guidelines from Canada and from different jurisdictions if Canadian guidelines were unavailable, (3) compared sediment concentrations to reference concentrations, and (4) developed an ERA decision matrix (used to inform management decisions at this aquatic site). Although sediments exhibited negligible potential for ecological risk and required no remedial management action, this case study highlights strengths of using COA for this ERA which included use of iterative and consistent approaches, but also highlights weaknesses which included unclear linkages between cause and effects of aquatic contaminants. Recommendations for future ERAs at contaminated aquatic sites include use of passive samplers and incorporating recent macroecology techniques.

中文翻译：

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加拿大的水生生态风险评估框架：在加拿大安大略省南贝茅斯市使用单一框架进行的案例研究。

生态风险评估（ERA）用于确定人类活动和产业对自然环境的潜在影响。存在许多ERA管理方法，并且根据管辖区或生态媒体的不同而不同。该ERA的重点是加拿大安大略省南贝茅斯港口设施的沉积物和地表水域水生生态系统中的污染物。使用加拿大安大略省评估大湖受污染沉积物的决策框架（COA）评估污染物。根据COA，这项研究（1）研究了来自南贝茅斯（South Baymouth）的历史数据，以确定可能引起关注的污染物，（2）通过比较沉积物和地表水的浓度数据与加拿大和其他辖区的沉积物质量准则和水质准则（如果无法获得加拿大准则）来描述潜在的污染，（3）将沉积物浓度与参考浓度进行比较，以及（4）得出ERA决策矩阵（用于通知该水生场所的管理决策）。尽管沉积物表现出的生态风险潜力可忽略不计，并且无需采取补救措施，但本案例研究着重指出了在该ERA中使用COA的优势，其中包括采用迭代和一致的方法，但也强调了缺点，其中包括水污染物的因果关系不明确。