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Ecotoxicological assessment of aquatic sediments with Caenorhabditis elegans (nematoda) — a method for testing liquid medium and whole‐sediment samples
Author(s) -
Traunspurger Walter,
Haitzer Markus,
Höss Sebastian,
Beier Stefanie,
Ahlf Wolfgang,
Steinberg Christian
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1002/etc.5620160221
Subject(s) - caenorhabditis elegans , sediment , nematode , biology , toxicity , toxicology , offspring , bioassay , environmental chemistry , zoology , ecology , chemistry , pregnancy , paleontology , biochemistry , genetics , organic chemistry , gene
We present a method using the free‐living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (Maupas, 1899) to assess toxicity in liquid medium and whole‐sediment setups. Test duration is 72 h; endpoints are body length, number of eggs inside worms, percentage of gravid worms, and number of offspring per worm. The effect of CdCl 2 on C. elegans in liquid‐phase exposures is described as an example. Results from a field study with polluted sediments from the River Elbe (Germany) suggest that nematodes may be useful organisms in assessing toxicity of sediments in the whole phase.