Sewage outfalls are one of the main anthropogenic impacts to coastal systems. Linking the chemical analysis in sediment, and changes in the ecological responses is one of the main tasks in ecosystem assessment for the protection of the marine environment. A three-tiered approach to evaluate the impact of the sewage of a recently built and obsolete Urban Waste Water Treatment Plants (UWWTPs) was performed. The sewage from each UWWTP differentially affected surrounding sediments. Macrobenthic community changes were influenced by the chemical composition in the sediments but also by grain size and organic matter. Abundance of the different families of the macrobenthic communities were correlated with most of the chemicals analyzed. On the contrary, toxicity bioassays were correlated with Zn and PCB concentrations but not with environmental variables. The toxicity tests linked the effect of chemical contamination on macrobenthic communities. A joint assessment of both chemical concentrations and their ecological effects is recommended.

排污口是对沿海系统的主要人为影响之一。将沉积物中的化学分析与生态响应的变化联系起来是生态系统评估中保护海洋环境的主要任务之一。我们采用了一种三层方法来评估最近建成和过时的城市污水处理厂（UWWTP）的污水影响。每个城市污水处理厂的污水对周围沉积物的影响各不相同。大型底栖动物群落的变化受沉积物中化学成分的影响，但也受粒度和有机质的影响。大型底栖动物群落的不同家族的丰富度与大多数分析的化学物质相关。相反，毒性生物测定与锌和多氯联苯的浓度相关，但与环境变量无关。毒性测试将化学污染对大型底栖动物群落的影响联系在一起。建议对化学浓度及其生态影响进行联合评估。