Important considerations in the derivation of background at sediment sites.

In the United States, there is an absence of federal guidance related to deriving and applying background concentrations at contaminated sediment sites. This absence has resulted in significant variability, uncertainty, and disagreement regarding how representative background concentrations of chemicals of concern should be derived for these sites. The present article discusses important considerations in the derivation of representative background concentrations to be used in the evaluation of contaminated sediment sites.