Is Hyalella azteca a Suitable Model Leaf-Shredding Benthic Crustacean for Testing the Toxicity of Sediment-Associated Metals in Europe?
- University of Koblenz-Landau, Institute for Environmental Sciences (Germany)
- RWTH Aachen University, Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research (Germany)
The leaf-shredding crustacean Hyalella azteca, which is indigenous to Northern and Central America, is used to assess environmental risks associated with (metal-)contaminated sediments and to propose sediment quality standards also in Europe. Yet, it is unknown if H. azteca is protective for European crustacean shredders. We thus compared the sensitivity of H. azteca with that of the European species Asellus aquaticus and Gammarus fossarum towards copper- and cadmium-contaminated sediments (prepared according to OECD 218) under laboratory conditions employing mortality and leaf consumption as endpoints. H. azteca either reacted approximately fourfold more sensitive than the most tolerant tested species (as for cadmium) or its sensitivity was only 1.6 times lower than the highest sensitivity determined (as for copper), which should be covered by safety factors applied during risk assessments. Therefore, the results for the sediment type and the two heavy metals tested during the present study in combination with the existence of standardized testing protocols, their ease of culture, and short generation time, suggest H. azteca as suitable crustacean model shredder for assessing the toxicity of sediment-associated metals in Europe.
- OSTI ID:
- 22933726
- Journal Information:
- Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, Vol. 102, Issue 3; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2019 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0007-4861
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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