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Is Hyalella azteca a Suitable Model Leaf-Shredding Benthic Crustacean for Testing the Toxicity of Sediment-Associated Metals in Europe?

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Abstract

The leaf-shredding crustacean Hyalella azteca, which is indigenous to Northern and Central America, is used to assess environmental risks associated with (metal-)contaminated sediments and to propose sediment quality standards also in Europe. Yet, it is unknown if H. azteca is protective for European crustacean shredders. We thus compared the sensitivity of H. azteca with that of the European species Asellus aquaticus and Gammarus fossarum towards copper- and cadmium-contaminated sediments (prepared according to OECD 218) under laboratory conditions employing mortality and leaf consumption as endpoints. H. azteca either reacted approximately fourfold more sensitive than the most tolerant tested species (as for cadmium) or its sensitivity was only 1.6 times lower than the highest sensitivity determined (as for copper), which should be covered by safety factors applied during risk assessments. Therefore, the results for the sediment type and the two heavy metals tested during the present study in combination with the existence of standardized testing protocols, their ease of culture, and short generation time, suggest H. azteca as suitable crustacean model shredder for assessing the toxicity of sediment-associated metals in Europe.

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Acknowledgements

We thank P. Baudy, T. Bürgi, M. Konschak, and a number of students for their help in the laboratory and M. Weil (ECT Oekotoxikologie GmbH) for providing the H. azteca to start our in-house culture. Reviewers and editor of this paper are acknowledged for their helpful comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Environmental Sciences, University of Koblenz-Landau, Fortstraße 7, 76829, Landau, Germany

    Jochen P. Zubrod, Dominic Englert, Alexander Feckler, Ricki R. Rosenfeldt, Hendrik Pasternack, Ralf Schulz & Mirco Bundschuh

  2. Eußerthal Ecosystem Research Station, University of Koblenz-Landau, Birkenthalstraße 13, 76857, Eußerthal, Germany

    Jochen P. Zubrod & Ralf Schulz

  3. Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7050, 75007, Uppsala, Sweden

    Alexander Feckler & Mirco Bundschuh

  4. nEcoTox, An der Neumühle 2, 76855, Annweiler, Germany

    Ricki R. Rosenfeldt

  5. Department of Ecosystem Analysis, Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, Worringer Weg 1, 52074, Aachen, Germany

    Henner Hollert & Thomas-Benjamin Seiler

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  1. Jochen P. Zubrod
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  2. Dominic Englert
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  9. Mirco Bundschuh
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Correspondence to Jochen P. Zubrod or Mirco Bundschuh.

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Conflict of interest

Some of the authors (R.R.R. and R.S.) are managing directors of small environmental consultancies or are now employed at a consultancy (D.E. and H.P.). The authors, however, do not feel a conflict of interest as a consequence of this situation.

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Zubrod, J.P., Englert, D., Feckler, A. et al. Is Hyalella azteca a Suitable Model Leaf-Shredding Benthic Crustacean for Testing the Toxicity of Sediment-Associated Metals in Europe?. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 102, 303–309 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-019-02557-6

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