Abstract
A bioassay utilizing the cladoceran Daphnia magna hatching success is presented for testing the toxicity of acid mine drainage (AMD) sediments. AMD sediments contain complex mixtures of potential toxins and a rapid, sensitive bioassay is valuable for assessing toxicity in the field, particularly after transient environmental events. Daphnia magna was incubated in water exposed to 1. clean sand spiked with different proportions of a mixture of metal salts and 2. sand mixed with different proportions of AMD sediments. Hatching success was linearly related to both the proportion of artificially spiked sediments (r= -0.83; p= 0.0002) and the proportion of AMD sediments (r = - 0.74; p= 0.02) that Daphnia magna was exposed to during incubations. No animals hatched during the first 18 hrs of observation under any treatments, so a single observation at 24 h ispractical for this assay. The assay should be generally applicable to toxicity testing, particularly when assessing complex mixtures of pollutants in field settings. The novelty of the proposed study lies in the fact that it proposesthe fastest ecotoxicity assay that we know of using Dahpnia magna. Potentially, after appropriate calibration for the particular pollutant of interest, it could be used to test for a wide array of aquatic pollutants. @JASEM
Highlights
Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a common environmental problem in areas with a history of coal mining
acid mine drainage (AMD) develops when pyrite stores from disused coal mines come into contact with water, leading to oxidation reactions that yield ferrous iron (Fe2+), Sulfate (SO42-) and acidity as hydrogen ions (H+)
Protocols utilizing Daphnia magna developmental responses range in duration from the classic 21 day test to the 68 h test proposed by Sobral et al, (2001)
Summary
Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a common environmental problem in areas with a history of coal mining. The 24h ecotoxicity test proposed here uses hatching success in Daphnia magna to provide a rapid and sensitive test of the toxicity of acid-mine drainage sediments. Short-term tests such as the swimming inhibition test are valuable in the detection and management of transient pollution events, we have developed a 24h test that combines the advantages of brief duration with the sensitivity of using developmental stages of Daphnia.
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