Semipermeable-membrane devices as an in situ and laboratory testing chamber
- Battelle, Seqium, WA (United States). Marine Sciences Lab.
The use of semipermeable-membrane devices (SPMDs) to measure the bioavailability of dissolved (< 10{angstrom}) hydrophobic-organic-compounds has recently been established. These low-density polyethylene bags are effective and relatively easy in situ devices for evaluating bioaccumulation potentials of polyaromatic hydrocarbons, pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, and dioxins. The authors believe SPMDs may also be effective in situ and laboratory testing chambers for evaluating dissolved contaminant effects on sensitive life stages of freshwater/marine fish and invertebrates. Applications may include dissolved contaminant toxicity of effluents, porewater, water-column, and surface microlayer. In laboratory tests, the applicability of SPMD-testing chambers was explored with marine bivalve larvae (Mytilus galloprovincialis). Test solutions were filtered seawater, dissolved copper, ammonia, and an elutriate preparation that included both organic and inorganic contaminants. SPMDs were filled with seawater, immersed in test solutions for 24-h, then spiked with fertilized M. galloprovincialis embryos. Following 48-h exposures, >90% survival and normal development was observed in the controls, indicating that incubation in the SPMDs did not adversely affect larval development. Incubation in test treatments resulted in slight, but not significantly different, reductions in normal development, relative to the controls. The authors believe longer SPMD immersion prior to testing will likely be required to allow SPMD contents to reach equilibrium with test solutions before eliciting a significant toxicological response. While this may limit the application of SPMDs for short term in situ exposures, they may be used for field/laboratory exposures of a week or more or for collecting equilibrated field samples for laboratory testing.
- OSTI ID:
- 398241
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9511137-; ISBN 1-880611-03-1; TRN: IM9649%%449
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) world conference, Vancouver (Canada), 5-9 Nov 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Second SETAC world congress (16. annual meeting): Abstract book. Global environmental protection: Science, politics, and common sense; PB: 378 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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