Author
Gavin F. Birch
Other affiliations: University of Adelaide, University of Cape Town
Bio: Gavin F. Birch is an academic researcher from University of Sydney. The author has contributed to research in topics: Estuary & Sediment. The author has an hindex of 48, co-authored 164 publications receiving 6539 citations. Previous affiliations of Gavin F. Birch include University of Adelaide & University of Cape Town.
Topics: Estuary, Sediment, Stormwater, Oyster, Trace metal
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
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TL;DR: The non-carcinogenic health risk resulting from exposure to the potentially toxic metals in TR dusts was within the safe level based on the Hazard Index, except in pollution hotspots where exposure to Pb, Cr, and Cu may be hazardous to children.
242 citations
TL;DR: The Port Jackson estuary has a long history of contamination which has resulted in extensive areas of polluted sediments mainly associated with the most industrialised/commercialised parts of the catchment as mentioned in this paper.
241 citations
TL;DR: The kinetics of adsorption and desorption were studied as a function of suspended particulate matter loading and salinity and showed that the position and slope of the pH edges are dependent on the metal and on the salinity of the water (except for Mn).
225 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, surface sediment was collected from 124 sites in Sydney Harbour and analysed for the 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) listed as priority pollutants by the US EPA, as well as 2-methylnaphthalene.
217 citations
TL;DR: The wide range of chemicals and concentrations, associated with low, medium and high probabilities of toxicity, indicated that the dataset was suitable for future use in evaluating predictive abilities of SQGs.
213 citations
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2,261 citations
TL;DR: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon diagnostic ratios have recently come into common use as a tool for identifying and assessing pollution emission sources and are reviewed to specify their limitations.
1,331 citations
1,275 citations
TL;DR: Comparative data for normalized enrichment factors and the modified degree of contamination show that Tamaki Estuary sediments have suffered significant systematic heavy metal contamination following catchment urbanization.
Abstract: Eight sediment cores recovered from Tamaki Estuary were analysed for Cu, Pb, Zn, and Cd using downward cored sub-samples. The results indicate a significant upward enrichment in heavy metals with the highest concentrations found in the uppermost 0–10 cm layer. Assessment of heavy metal pollution in marine sediments requires knowledge of pre-anthropogenic metal concentrations to act as a reference against which measured values can be compared. Pristine values for the cored sediments were determined from flat “base-line” metal trends evident in lower core samples. Various methods for calculating metal enrichment and contamination factors are reviewed in detail and a modified and more robust version of the procedure for calculating the degree of contamination is proposed. The revised procedure allows the incorporation of a flexible range of pollutants, including various organic species, and the degree of contamination is expressed as an average ratio rather than an absolute summation number. Comparative data for normalized enrichment factors and the modified degree of contamination show that Tamaki Estuary sediments have suffered significant systematic heavy metal contamination following catchment urbanization. Compared to baseline values the uppermost sediment layers show four-fold enrichment averaged across eight cores and four analysed metals.
1,039 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the concentration and chemical fractionation of globally alarming six heavy metals (Cr, Ni, Cu, As, Cd and Pb) were measured in surface water and sediment of an urban river in Bangladesh.
984 citations