ABSTRACT
This book is intended to apply the findings of a multidisciplinary comparative study of two estuarine systems to provide a future methodology for such studies. We are seeking improved risk assessment of the potential ecotoxicological effects of contamination in estuaries before a stage has been reached when remediation is no longer possible or commercially viable. Clearly this comparison of the two estuaries, the anthropogenically contaminated Seine estuary and the reference Authie estuary, has involved considerable monitoring of chemical concentrations in the key compartments of the biogeochemical cycle-water, sediments, and biota exemplified by zooplankton (Eurytemora affinis), a benthic macroinvertebrate (Nereis diversicolor), and a fish (Platichthys flesus) (Chapters 3, 5, 6, 10, and 11).
