1. Sediments have been considered as a habitat, a cover from predators and a source of food, but also as a source of potential toxic compounds. Therefore, the choice of a suitable substrate is essential for the development of chironomids.2. For the midge Chironomus riparius (Meigen 1804) the growth rate of larvae has often been related to the food quality in sediments rather than to the amount of toxicants in the sediment. Both food quality and sediment-bound toxicants have been reported to determine the field distribution of chironomid larvae.3. We therefore studied the habitat selection by C. riparius larvae of floodplain lake sediments, differing in both food quality and concentrations of sediment-bound toxicants. We offered the different sediments pairwise to the chironomid larvae in a choice experiment and their settlement in the paired sediments was determined after 10 days.4. It was observed that larvae showed a clear preference for sediments with higher food quality, which also provided better growth conditions, and that the food quality overruled avoidance of the sediments with higher toxicant concentrations.5. Our observations correspond with the persistence of this fast growing opportunistic chironomid species in organically enriched aquatic ecosystems independent of the contamination level.

Summary1. Bioturbation, by definition, changes the structure and properties of sediments, thereby altering the environment of the bioturbator and other benthic species. In addition to the indirect effects of sediment reworking (e.g. changes in water quality), bioturbating species may also directly interfere with other species via competition. This study aims, therefore, to examine both the direct and indirect effects of sediment reworking by an opportunistic detritivore on survival and growth of a specialised mayfly species.2. Bioturbation was imposed by adding different densities of the midge Chironomus riparius to clean and polluted sediments. Changes in water quality and sediment properties, and survival and growth of the mayfly Ephoron virgo were assessed.3. Chironomid density had a strong negative effect on the concentrations of metals, nutrients and particles in the overlying water, but increased the penetration of oxygen into the sediment. Survival and growth of E. virgo were strongly reduced in the presence of chironomids. In the polluted sediment, the activity of chironomids enhanced the negative effects of pollution on E. virgo. In the clean sediment, inhibition of the mayfly was even more pronounced.4. This suggests that direct disturbance by C. riparius was more important than indirect changes in water quality, and over‐ruled the potential positive effects of improved oxygen penetration. The results indicated that the distribution of small insects, such as E. virgo, can be limited by bioturbating benthic invertebrates.

Laboratory ecotoxicity tests may not adequately evaluate the effects of pesticides, because they often do not include more environmentally relevant conditions, such as pulsed toxicant exposures and low food conditions. Therefore, we tested the effects of a pulse of the pyrethroid insecticide fenvalerate (FV) on the life history and population growth rate (r) of the cladoceran Daphnia magna. The daphnids were subjected to a 24-h pesticide pulse exposure (0.03, 0.1, 0.3, 0.6, 1.0, and 3.2 microg/L) under high and low food conditions and were monitored for 21 d. Chemical analysis showed that at t = 1 h, the nominal FV concentrations were reduced by 50 to 66%. Fenvalerate decreased survival and growth in the week following pulse exposure. Age at first reproduction increased, with consequent adverse effects on cumulative reproduction per living female and, therefore, on r. Thus, a short-term exposure of FV caused a long-term reduction on r as a result of increased mortality and a delay in development. Low food conditions exacerbated the effects of the FV exposure on juvenile survival and growth during the first week. This caused a much stronger reduction in r under low food conditions. We concluded that a pulsed FV exposure may result in long-term reduction of r that can be predicted only with more environmentally relevant toxicity tests, as described in the present study.

After decades of pollution, benthic communities in floodplain lake ecosystems are likely to be exposed to a diverse assortment of sediment-bound historical toxicants and nutrients as well as pulses of newly discharged or deposited toxicants. The aim of this study was therefore to analyze the effects of background sediment pollution on the responses of benthic invertebrates to an experimental toxic shock in a laboratory setting. Sediment from a relatively clean and a historically polluted floodplain lake located along the River Waal, a branch of the River Rhine, The Netherlands, was selected, and the fungicide triphenyltin acetate (TPT) was used as the acute stressor. Juvenile stages of the mayfly Ephoron virgo and the midge Chironomus riparius were chosen as test organisms because of their different response to sediment-bound toxicants and food quantity and quality. Our results demonstrated that the type of sediment had no effect on survival and growth of C. riparius when exposed to sediment-associated TPT and that E. virgo was more affected by sediment-associated TPT on clean sediment than on polluted sediment. For the mayfly, no cumulative response of the historical pollution and the recent toxic shock was observed. This observation is discussed in view of the variable content of organic matter, acting both as food and as sorbent, and leads to the hypothesis that a very strong sequestering of TPT in historically polluted sediment prevents expression of toxic effects.

The aim of the present study was to analyse the causes for the absence and persistence of chironomids in sediments with a complex pollution history. Observations on the benthic community composition in floodplain lake sediments of the River Rhine, differing in contaminant level and food quality, were combined with laboratory and in situ bioassays, using the midge Chironomus riparius as a model species. The positive relation between food quality and the diversity of the communities indicated that food quality is an important factor regulating benthic community composition, overriding the potential effects of contaminants. Nevertheless, in sediments with high contaminant levels, high densities of species classified as 'pollution-tolerant', such as Chironomus sp., were observed. The laboratory bioassays verified that the contaminant concentrations in these sediments had no direct effect on survival and growth of C. riparius, although higher contaminant concentrations in the sediment resulted in a higher incidence of mentum deformities. Also, the high growth rate of C. riparius in the in situ enclosures in two of the most contaminated sediments indicated chemical stress and mentum deformities did not exclude rapid growth. This observation agrees with the abundance of the resident pollution-tolerant chironomids of the Chironomus plumosus group. In addition, the in situ bioassay pointed out that predation on chironomids added to the field enclosures was significant and is also an important factor in regulating the abundance of chironomids. In sediments with the highest food quality and low levels of contaminants the opportunistic chironomids may have been outcompeted by benthic invertebrate taxa that are not able to persist at more contaminated sites. It is concluded that tolerance of opportunistic chironomids, such as Chironomus sp., combined with their rapid rate of development, enables them to persist in contaminated sediments that are organically enriched avoiding competition with other invertebrates

This study reports on the development and application of a whole sediment toxicity test using a benthic cladoceran Chydorus sphaericus, as an alternative for the use of pelagic daphnids. A C. sphaericus laboratory culture was started and its performance under control conditions was optimised. The test was firstly validated by determining dose-response relationships for aqueous cadmium and copper and ammonia, showing a sensitivity of C. sphaericus (96 h LC(50) values of 594 microg Cd/L, 191 microg Cu/L and 46 mg ammonia/L at pH 8) similar to that of daphnids. Next, sediment was introduced into the test system and a series of contaminated sediments from polluted locations were tested. A significant negative correlation between survival and toxicant concentrations was observed. It is concluded that the test developed in the present study using the benthic cladoceran C. sphaericus is suitable for routine laboratory sediment toxicity testing.

The use of internal concentrations as a dose parameter for baseline toxicity requires an understanding of the relationship between accumulation level and toxic effects, not only for acute but also for chronic exposure. In this study of chronic toxicity of the nonpolar narcotic 1,2,3,4-tetrachlorobenzene (TeCB) to Chironomus riparius, the chronic median lethal concentration (LC50) was determined to be 0.99 (0.54-1.82) muM, the median sublethal effect concentration (EC50) for growth was 0.76 (0.73-0.97) muM, and the chronic (sublethal) no-observed-effect concentration (NOEC) was 0.24 +/- 0.01 muM. An acute-to-chronic ratio of 9.8 was calculated from a previously determined acute LC50 value and this NOEC. The chronic critical body residue (CBR), 136 mmol/kg lipid, was the same as the acute CBR, previously determined. The similarity of the chronic and acute CBRs lends support to the exposure time independent aspect of baseline toxicity theory. An implication of this is that internal concentrations estimated by biomimetic sampling devices may be compared to acute CBR data to determine chronic baseline toxicity risk. Such sampling devices, solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fibers, were simultaneously exposed during the toxicity test. The results of this study suggest that body residues estimated with SPME may be used to predict baseline toxicity for various exposure durations.

The role of the nutritional quality of non-polluted soft-bottom Sediments as a factor structuring in situ macroinvertebrate communities was studied in shallow eutrophic waters in The Netherlands. Sediments from clean sites were collected and analyzed for general characteristics (e. a. grain-size, distribution) and nutritional value (e. g. C, N, P. poIyunsaturated fatty acids). Also, rnacroinvertebrates were collected from these sediments and identified. In laboratory bioassays, Chironomus riparius midge larvae were exposed to these sediments to assess the nutritional value of each sediment.The abundance of detritivore taxa was positively associated with polyunsaturated fatty acids, bacterial fatty acids, pigments. and mineralization rate. These variables represent newly produced organic matter originating from the pelagic part of watersystems. Therefore, there seems to be a strong connection between the organic matter production in the pelagic part of watersystems and sediment food quality.The growth response of C. riparius larvae measured in the bioassay showed Strong correlations with the abundance of detritivorous Chironomidae taxa ill the sediment samples. Herbivorous and carnivorous taxa did not correlate with the bioassay results. Highest growth of C. riparius was observed in sediments with abundant detritivorous Chironomidae taxa and lowest growth was observed in sediments with taxa with other modes of feeding. Therefore, growth of C. riparius seems to effectively indicate the nutritional value of sediments for sediment bulk feeders.

Effects observed in whole-sediment bioassays must be seen as the joint effect of all sediment characteristics. In whole-sediment bioassays, however, adverse effects on test organisms are usually attributed to the presence of contaminants and effects of food are often ignored. The aim of this study was to analyze the response of the midge Chironomus riparius to sediment spiked with different combinations of food and copper. The responses of C. riparius to these spiked sediments were assessed in 10-day whole-sediment bioassays. Decreases in survival, dry weight, and length of C. riparius were observed with increasing copper concentrations. However, an increase in the amount of food resulted in an increase of larval dry weight and length until copper concentrations reached a critical threshold of 200 mg/kg. In addition, an increase in the amount of food resulted in a decrease of accumulated copper in the larvae. The present study demonstrated that the combination of copper and food in the sediment determines the performance of C. riparius in whole-sediment bioassays. The dependency of C. riparius on high feeding levels, which mask toxic effects, questions its suitability as a test organism for whole-sediment bioassays. Because benthic communities in polluted ecosystems are often exposed to varying levels of both food and toxicants it is concluded that the trophic state of the ecosystem may alter the ecological risk of sediment-bound toxicants to opportunistic benthic invertebrates such as C. riparius.

Cultures of the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum were grown under laboratory light with a different fraction of ultraviolet radiation (UV) to study the potential role of photoadaptation in determining the sensitivity to photoenhanced toxicity of acridine. In short-term experiments, a higher acridine concentration was needed to inhibit the photosynthetic electron flux, monitored with chlorophyll a fluorescence, in algae exposed to fluorescent light (low UV) than to mercury light (high UV), consistent with the expected role of UV. The two types of light in long-term exposures led to changes in the pigment composition and photosystem I (PS I) to photosystem II (PS II) stoichiometry to optimize the utilization of fluorescent and mercury light. Despite the adaptation of the photosynthetic apparatus to a small fraction of UV, long-term exposure to mercury light did show a constant sensitivity of the photosynthetic efficiency of P. tricornutum to the phototoxic acridine. It is concluded that the prime receptor of photoenhanced toxicity may be unrelated to the photosynthetic machinery.

Standard toxicity tests are performed at one constant, optimal temperature (usually 20 degrees C), while in the field variable and suboptimal temperatures may occur. Lack of knowledge on the interactions between chemicals and temperature hampers the extrapolation of laboratory toxicity data to ecosystems. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the effects of temperature on cadmium toxicity to the waterflea Daphnia magna and to address possible processes responsible for temperature-dependent toxicity. This was investigated by performing standard toxicity tests with D. magna under a wide temperature range. Thermal effects on accumulation kinetics were determined by estimating uptake and elimination rates from accumulation experiments. To study temperature dependency of the intrinsic sensitivity of the daphnids to cadmium, the DEBtox model was used to estimate internal threshold concentrations (ITCs) and killing rates from the toxicity and accumulation data. The results revealed that increasing temperature lowered the ITC and increased the killing rate and the uptake rate of the metal. Enhanced sensitivity of D. magna was shown to be the primary factor for temperature-dependent toxicity. Since temperature has such a major impact on toxicity, a temperature correction may be necessary when translating toxicity data from the laboratory to the field.

The benthic diatom Gomphonema parvulum Kutzing is a common species in both clean and metal contaminated rivers. Our aim was to investigate whether metal-induced tolerance could explain the persistance of this taxon under metal polluted conditions. G. parvulum strains were isolated from a Zn- and Cd-contaminated stream and from a relatively clean ("reference") stream. The strains were cultured in synthetic medium as mono-specific biofilms to maintain their specific benthic growth features. Moreover, the strain from the metal polluted stream was cultured in plain and Zn- and Cd-enriched synthetic medium. Short-term (5 h) toxicity experiments with Zn were performed with the strains using pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometry. Zn lowered significantly the minimal chlorophyll fluorescence (F-0) and the photon yield (phi (p)) of the exposed strains after 5 h exposure. The actual Zn concentrations that caused a 50% reduction (EC50's) of the phi (p) of the strain from the metal polluted stream were significantly higher than those of the isolate from the unpolluted stream. The absence of tolerance to Cu of the "polluted" strain indicated that Zn tolerance resulted from specific induction by chronic exposure to Zn in the field. Observations on field biofilms confirmed a higher tolerance of the G. parvulum population from the polluted stream than of the G. parvulum population from the reference stream. A genetic nature of this metal adaptation was supported by the persistance of the Zn tolerance of the polluted strain 2 years after isolation. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Benthic communities in floodplain lake ecosystems are often exposed to varying levels of both food and toxicants. Inhibition through toxicants of sensitive species and stimulation through increased amounts of food of opportunistic species have been observed in separate studies. The aim of this study was therefore to assess the responses of benthic invertebrates to combined food and contamination input. Hence, seven floodplain lakes located along the River Waal, The Netherlands, with different levels of food (being either phytoplankton or macrophyte dominated) and toxicants were selected. The responses of the sensitive mayfly Ephoron virgo and the opportunistic midge Chironomus riparius to these sediments were assessed in 10-d growth bioassays with both species and a 28-d emergence experiment with C. riparius. A decrease in both survival and growth of E. virgo was observed with increasing contaminant levels. In contrast, C. riparius responded to the food quantity and quality in the sediments in spite of the toxicants present. Therefore, we conclude that the midge C. riparius is not a suitable test organism for the assessment of sediment toxicity. Alternatively, it proved to be an appropriate test organism to determine the nutritional value of sediments. The mayfly E. virgo turned out to be a much more appropriate test organism for sediment toxicity bioassays because it responds to the toxicant levels in the sediments rather than to the nutritional value. Our results demonstrate that the trophic state of an ecosystem (macrophyte or plankton dominated) influences the ecological risk of toxicants to benthic invertebrates in a species-specific way. It is concluded that not the toxicant load but the combination of food and contaminants determines the persistence of benthic invertebrates and therewith the benthic invertebrate composition in complexly polluted ecosystems.

The ability of the non-biting midge Chironomus riparius to survive and reproduce in metal polluted lowland rivers facilitates the opportunity to study micro-evolutionary processes in situ. However, due to larval drift, adapted midge populations are subject to regular immigration of non-adapted specimens from clean upstream river reaches. To examine the influence of non-adapted genes in adapted midge populations on the level of metal adaptation, an upstream and downstream chironomid population were crossbred on eight separate occasions in the laboratory to mimic gene flow. Several life-history characteristics, indicating adaptation to metals, were followed seasonally in the parental strains as well as in the reciprocal crossings. Such crossings were done over a 14-month period and maternal effects were found to be absent, indicating a major genetic component for the increased metal tolerance in the exposed midge populations. Furthermore, results confirmed the presence of adaptation to metals in exposed chironomids. However, a rapid loss of metal adaptation in the first generation hybrid offspring was clearly demonstrated. Consequently, the large temporal variation in metal adaptation in midge populations from the river can be explained by the earlier reported seasonal variations in selection pressure and immigration rates from non-adapted sub-populations.

In many large European rivers, the number of typical riverine insect species, such as mayflies, stoneflies, and caddisflies, is greatly reduced compared to historic records. This can no longer be explained by high concentrations of a relatively small number of dominant toxicants since many rivers have changed from heavily contaminated systems with a few selected key toxicants to systems with a complex contamination. This contamination consists of many substances in low concentrations coinciding with other unfavorable conditions, such as low oxygen concentrations. It was hypothesized that the joint adverse effects of such multiple stressors may be a steering factor in the distribution of riverine insect species. The aim of this study was therefore to determine the combined effects of toxicants and oxygen depletion. To this purpose, larvae of the indigenous riverine mayfly Ephoron virgo were exposed to two different model toxicants, copper and diazinon,under normoxia and hypoxia (50% air saturation) conditions. The median effective concentrations for mortality for copper were significantly lower in the hypoxia treatments than in the normoxia treatments. For diazinon, no differences were observed between two treatments differing in dissolved oxygen levels, and therefore we argue that interactions between multiple stressors may be compound specific. It is concluded that the combination of toxicants and lowered oxygen may have a stronger impact than can be expected based on the adverse effects of the individual factors and that standard toxicity tests may be insufficient alone to determine the impact of human activities on the ecological state of riverine communities. Instead, attention needs to be paid to more environmentally realistic nonoptimal conditions in toxicity testing to adequately fulfill the needs of ecological recovery programs.

When organic chemicals are extracted from a water sample with solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fibers, the resulting concentrations in exposed fibers are proportional to the hydrophobicity of the compounds. This fiber accumulation is analogous to the bioconcentration of chemicals observed in aquatic organisms. The objective of this study was to investigate the prospect of measuring the total concentration in SPME fibers to estimate the total body residue in biota for the purpose of risk assessment. Using larvae of the midge, Chironomus riparius and disposable 15-microm poly(dimethylsiloxane) fibers, we studied the accumulation and accumulation kinetics of a number of narcotic compounds with a range of log K(ow) between 3 and 6. The fibers, which have a larger surface area-to-volume ratio, had consistently higher uptake and elimination rate constants (k1 and k2, respectively) than midge larvae and accumulated the chemicals 5 times faster. Comparison of the relationships of the partition coefficients K(PDMS-water) and K(midge-water) (lipid-normalized) to log K(ow) for all compounds yielded a factor of 28 for translating fiber concentrations to biota concentrations. This factor can be used to estimate internal concentrations in biota for compounds structurally similar to the compounds in this study. The exact chemical domain to which this factor can be applied needs to be defined in future research.

Azaarenes are a group of heterocyclic PACs in which one carbon atom has been replaced by one nitrogen atom. Heterocyclic PACs commonly occur in the environment, but risk assessment for PACs is solely based on (a small number of) homocyclic compounds. In order to examine whether the present risk assessment accurately protects against a broader range of PACs, the aim of this study was to compare the toxicity of an analogue series of homocyclic and heterocyclic PACs to a representative benthic invertebrate, the midge Chironomus riparius . The present study focused on generating toxicity data (96 h LC 50 ) for naphthalene, anthracene, phenanthrene, and pyrene to allow a comparison with previously obtained results for azaarenes. Since photoenhanced toxicity was expected for some of the compounds tested, experiments were carried out with and without a UV filter in order to obtain a complete assessment of the toxic mechanisms involved. Toxicity of homocyclic PAHs and azaarenes increased with increasing number of rings. In general, homocyclic PAHs were more toxic than their N-heterocyclic analogues, but homocyclic PAHs also are more lipophilic than their heterocyclic analogues. Consequently, this difference in toxicity between both groups of compounds disappeared when the comparison was based on log K ow . Higher than predicted toxicities of both azaarenes and homocyclic PAHs were clearly related to photoenhanced toxicity. Especially anthracene and acridine showed strong increases in toxicity in the presence of UV radiation. This photoenhanced toxicity can accurately be predicted by the HOMO-LUMO gap values of the compounds. Therefore, it is concluded that extension of the present log K ow based QSARs with a descriptor for photoenhanced toxicity (such as the overlap between the absorption spectrum of the chemicals and the irradiance emitted by the light source used) appears to be a necessity for predicting toxicity of PACs in the environment.

The present study seeks quantitative measures for photoenhanced toxicity under natural light regimes by comparing the effects of an aromatic compound under natural and laboratory light. To this purpose, the influence of light irradiance and spectral composition on the extent of photoenhanced toxicity of acridine, a three-ringed azaarene, to the marine diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum was analyzed. Under laboratory light containing ultraviolet radiation (UV), the 72-h EC50 growth value for acridine was 1.55 microM. Under natural light, a 72-h EC50 value for acridine below the lowest test concentration (0.44 microM) was observed. Under both laboratory and natural light, the toxicity of acridine was equally enhanced by total UV (UV-A and UV-B) and UV-A radiation, while in the absence of UV no enhancement of toxicity was observed. Hence, the UV-A region of light was dominant in the photoenhanced toxicity of acridine to P. tricornutum, in accordance with its absorption spectrum in the UV-A region. Therefore, the total amount of UV radiation absorbed by aqueous acridine was calculated for each separate treatment. The amount of UV absorbed by acridine effectively described the effect of acridine on the growth of P. tricornutum in a dose-response-dependent manner. It is concluded that photoenhanced toxicity of aromatic compounds expressed as a function of the actually absorbed UV may circumvent some of the variability between studies using different concentrations of the phototoxic compounds and light sources. The UV quantity absorbed by these compounds allows a comparison with the absorption characteristics of natural waters and, thus, is a key parameter to determine the role of photoenhanced toxicity in water.

Numerous studies have reported marked sensitivities of diatom species to phosphate and organic pollution but have ignored interactions with other common contaminants. The aim of the present study was to investigate the single and joint effects of increased phosphate and metal (cadmium, zinc) concentrations on benthic diatom communities. Microalgal biofilms from a relatively unpolluted stream were exposed in the laboratory to Zn, Cd, and P, separately and in combination, in concentrations found at a polluted stream in the same catchment. The Zn concentration reduced algal growth in biofilms more than the Cd concentration. Phosphate compensated for the single effect of each metal but not for their combined effects. Diatom community changes were evaluated using water quality indices based on the empirical sensitivities of taxa to nutrients (TDI) and organic pollution (%PTV). Phosphate exposure resulted in an increase of the eutrophy rank and presumed pollution-tolerant taxa. In contrast, exposure to Zn, Zn+Cd, and Zn+Cd+P caused a marked reduction of the TDI and %PTV community values, The successional trends in the laboratory matched the observed differences in microphyte communities in the reference and polluted river stations. However, the autoecology of the species present also revealed that the resulting composition of diatom communities cannot be attributed Solely to the direct toxic effects of metal and nutrients and their interaction. Observed changes in the relative abundance of species are also determined by their growth form and microdistribution in biofilms.

A biomimetic extraction technique using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fibers has been developed for the risk assessment of contaminants with a narcotic mode of action. Our goal is to apply this technique in the future for the prediction of total baseline toxicity of environmental water and effluent samples. Validation of this method requires establishing the relationship between contaminant accumulation and toxicity in biota and accumulation in the surrogate solid phase (the SPME fiber coating). For this purpose, we determined the median lethal concentration (LC50) values for Chironomus riparius midge larvae exposed to two halogenated aromatic compounds separately and measured body residues in the exposed larvae. Solid-phase microextraction fibers with an 85-microm polyacrylate (PA) coating served as the surrogate hydrophobic phase, mimicking the uptake of the compounds by midge larvae. The toxicant concentrations in SPME fibers measured directly by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) or calculated from the SPME fiber-water partition coefficient, K(SPME) were related to the toxicant concentrations found in midge larvae. Our results demonstrated that the biomimetic SPME method enables the estimation of body residues in biota and prediction of the degree of baseline toxicity of a water medium.