1. Toxicity assessment of sediments from three European river basins using a sediment contact test battery.
- Author
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Tuikka AI, Schmitt C, Höss S, Bandow N, von der Ohe PC, de Zwart D, de Deckere E, Streck G, Mothes S, van Hattum B, Kocan A, Brix R, Brack W, Barceló D, Sormunen AJ, and Kukkonen JV
- Subjects
- Aliivibrio fischeri physiology, Animals, Caenorhabditis drug effects, Caenorhabditis physiology, Chironomidae drug effects, Chironomidae physiology, Europe, Invertebrates classification, Invertebrates physiology, Oligochaeta drug effects, Oligochaeta physiology, Reference Values, Reproducibility of Results, Risk Assessment methods, Risk Assessment standards, Sensitivity and Specificity, Snails drug effects, Snails physiology, Survival Analysis, Toxicity Tests methods, Toxicity Tests standards, Aliivibrio fischeri drug effects, Geologic Sediments chemistry, Invertebrates drug effects, Rivers chemistry, Water Pollutants toxicity, Zebrafish physiology
- Abstract
The toxicity of four polluted sediments and their corresponding reference sediments from three European river basins were investigated using a battery of six sediment contact tests representing three different trophic levels. The tests included were chronic tests with the oligochaete Lumbriculus variegatus, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and the mudsnail Potamopyrgus antipodarum, a sub-chronic test with the midge Chironomus riparius, an early life stage test with the zebra fish Danio rerio, and an acute test with the luminescent bacterium Vibrio fischeri. The endpoints, namely survival, growth, reproduction, embryo development and light inhibition, differed between tests. The measured effects were compared to sediment contamination translated into toxic units (TU) on the basis of acute toxicity to Daphnia magna and Pimephales promelas, and multi-substance Potentially Affected Fractions of species (msPAF) as an estimate for expected community effects. The test battery could clearly detect toxicity of the polluted sediments with test-specific responses to the different sediments. The msPAF and TU-based toxicity estimations confirmed the results of the biotests by predicting a higher toxic risk for the polluted sediments compared to the corresponding reference sediments, but partly having a different emphasis from the biotests. The results demonstrate differences in the sensitivities of species and emphasize the need for data on multiple species, when estimating the effects of sediment pollution on the benthic community., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2011
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