Do amphipods have the same concentration-response to contaminated sediment in situ as in vitro?
- Environmental Protection Agency, Newport, OR (United States). National Health and Environmental Effects Research Lab.
- National Inst. for Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd., Hamilton (New Zealand)
- Texas A and M Univ., Corpus Christi, TX (United States)
- Electricity Corp. of New Zealand Ltd., Hamilton (New Zealand)
An underlying assumption of laboratory-based toxicity tests is that the sensitivity of organisms in the laboratory (in vitro) is comparable to that in the field (in situ). The authors tested this assumption by exposing estuarine amphipods (Chaetocorophium cf. lucasi) to a concentration series of cadmium-spiked sediments in vitro and in situ for 10 d. In situ exposures were conducted within plastic-mesh cages on an intertidal mudflat. To characterize exposure, they measured interstitial water cadmium concentrations (IW{sub Cd}), acid volatile sulfide (AVS), and simultaneously extracted Cd (SEM{sub Cd}) at the beginning and end of the exposures. Between day 0 and day 10, AVS decreased in both in vitro and in situ exposures, while IW{sub Cd} levels declined less in vitro than in situ (median 76%). Despite more extreme conditions of temperature and salinity in situ, in vitro and in situ exposures showed comparable survival responses based on SEM{sub Cd}/AVS with the onset of marked mortality above a SEM{sub Cd}/AVS value of about one and minimal survival (< 5%) above a value of two. Based on IW{sub Cd} concentrations, however, sensitivity was significantly greater in vitro. They concluded that, in their tests, amphipod sensitivity in vitro was equal to or greater than its sensitivity in situ.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 361946
- Journal Information:
- Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Vol. 18, Issue 5; Other Information: PBD: May 1999
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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