Enlarging the Arsenal of Test Species for Sediment Quality Assessment

Since only a few standard benthic test species are available for sediment quality, our study aimed to employ multiple test species representing different sensitivity categories in the quality assessment of contaminated sediments. To this end three macroinvertebrate species, Sericostoma personatum (caddisfly, sensitivity category 10), Asellus aquaticus (isopod, category 3) and Chironomus riparius (chironomid, category 2), were exposed to sediments originating from various contamination sources in whole sediment bioassays using intact sediment cores. The agricultural sediment caused insect mortality, the agricultural and urban sediment caused isopod growth reduction and the urban and Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) sediment affected chironomid emergence time. It is concluded that the arsenal of standard species can be successfully expanded by non-standard species, reducing over- or underestimation of the risks of contaminated sediments.

Automated summary

Given the limited availability of standard benthic test species for sediment quality assessments, our study aimed to utilize multiple test species with different sensitivity categories. We exposed three macroinvertebrate species to sediments from various contamination sources and assessed their performance using intact sediment cores. The results showed that agricultural sediment caused insect mortality, agricultural and urban sediment caused isopod growth reduction, and urban and Wastewater Treatment Plant sediment affected chironomid emergence time. We concluded that including non-standard species can enhance the accuracy of risk assessments for contaminated sediments.