SOFIE® is used in many types of studies (check also the Download section):
- The effect of inundation and flooding;
- Exposure tests with terrestrial and aquatic organisms;
- The effect of bioturbation on oxidation and bioavailability, contaminant displacement;
- Fluxes of nutrients to/from sediment and surface water;
- Simulation of long-term sediment storage in sand pits and lakes;
- (Geo)chemical oxidation and ripening of drained sediments.
Aquatic sediments may absorb or release contaminants from/to surface waters and ground water. The rate and amount of which this occurs is generally difficult to determine. Redox processes (oxidation and reduction) dictate the fate of many compounds to a large extent. These cells provide the means to measure redox-discrete processes.
Toxicity of contaminants to aquatic organisms is related to the in-situ chemical speciation. Free ion concentrations can be measured in pore water of the sediment and in the overlying surface water. Toxicity tests can be performed in combination with flow-through cells in which populations of e.g., Daphnids can be contained.
Bioaccumulation studies with Tubifex (left) and Chironimus (right) show that uptake is primarily via the free dissolved phase
Redox gradients occur over short distances.
This affect the bioavailability of compounds.
