The Water Quality Guidelines Task Group of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) developed chemical concentrations recommended to support and maintain aquatic life associated with bed sediments. These values are derived from available scientific information on biological effects of sediment-associated chemicals and are intended to support the functioning of healthy ecosystems. The Sediment quality guidelines protocol relies on the National Status and Trends Program approach and the Spiked-Sediment Toxicity Test approach. The Probable Effects Levels (PEL) correspond to concentrations above which adverse biological effects are frequently found.
Obtained from Environment Canada’s Canadian Environmental Quality Guidelines web page at http://www.ec.gc.ca/ceqg-rcqe/English/Ceqg/Sediment/default.cfm and http://www.ccme.ca/assets/pdf/e1_06.pdf. Updated 2002.