Development and Evaluation of Numerical Sediment Quality Assessment Guidelines for Florida Inland Waters

This report, which addresses the third element of the initiative, describes the development
and evaluation of numerical SQAGs that are intended to support the assessments of sediment
quality conditions in Florida inland waters, including effects-based SQAGs and
bioaccumulation-based SQAGs. The effects-based SQAGs are intended to provide a means
of determining the concentrations of sediment-associated contaminants that are unlikely to
be associated with adverse biological effects and those that are likely to be associated with
sediment toxicity or other adverse effects on sediment-dwelling organisms. By comparison,
the bioaccumulation-based SQAGs are intended to identify the concentrations of sediment associated
contaminants that are unlikely to be associated with adverse effects on aquatic dependent
wildlife and/or human health.