Elemental analysis of Dikerogammarus villosus samples for river water monitoring

Dikerogammarus villosus (amphipod crustacean) samples were collected from the River Danube. The applicability of artificial substrates (gravel and clay filled containers translocated at the bottom of the river) and the effect of the applied colonization periods of short (3 weeks) and long (up to 30 weeks) terms were tested. Ag, As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn concentrations of the amphipods were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) after the digestion of some milligram samples. It was established that the artificial substrates did not influence the bioaccumulative processes of the elements investigated, and the short-term colonization period turned out to be sufficient for biomonitoring. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.