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Sediment bioaccumulation test with Lumbriculus variegatus: Effects of feeding
Citation:
Burkhard, L., D. Hubin-Barrows, N. Billa, T. Highland, R. Hockett, Dave Mount, AND T. Norberg-King. Sediment bioaccumulation test with Lumbriculus variegatus: Effects of feeding. ARCHIVES OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION AND TOXICOLOGY. Springer, New York, NY, 68(4):696-706, (2015).
Impact/Purpose:
Sediment bioaccumulation test methodology of USEPA, released in 2000, recommends that the loading density of Lumbriculus variegatus should be greater than 50:1 for the ratio of sediment organic carbon mass to L. variegatus dry weight mass. With increasing loading of organisms, growth of the organisms decreased, and while PCB residues in the Lumbriculus variegatus were similar across different loadings. The data suggests that the recommended minimum 50:1 ratio could be relaxed (lower ratio) without substantively affecting the results, and could be considerably lowered if differences of 50% are not of concern. These results will be considered in on-going efforts by EPA in updating its freshwater sediment testing guidance document (US-EPA 2000).
Description:
Sediment bioaccumulation tests with Lumbriculus variegatus were performed on seven sediments with a series of ratios of total organic carbon in sediment to L. variegatus (dry weight) (TOC/Lv) that spanned the recommendation of no less than 50:1. With increasing loading of organisms, growth of the organisms decreased in six of the seven sediments test. Residues of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) in the L. variegatus were measured in six of the seven sediments tested. With two sediments, PCB residues increased with increasing loading of the organism while in the remaining four sediments analyzed, PCB residues were not significantly across the different loadings of the organism. Overall, the differences in residues among the loading rates across all sediments were small, i.e., 50% from the 50:1 TOC/Lv recommendation. As reported previously, we observed no significant differences between loadings of 50:1 TOC/Lv and those with loadings in the mid-20s:1
