SLMDs are known to accumulate cadmium, cobalt, copper, nickel, lead, and zinc, and have been deployed in freshwater monitoring studies by The Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) and the USGS.
Ecology deployed SLMDs in upper and lower Indian Creek for 28 and 27 days respectively. Metal concentrations on the SLMDs were used to estimate the true concentration of metals in the creek. The estimated concentration was expressed as a range based on sampling rate of SLMDs as well as the length of exposure. The purpose of the sampling was to investigate potential causes of sublethal effects of young trout and loss of benthic biodiversity in the creek.