Daphnia, bioassays

Barata C, Damasio J, Lopez MA, Kuster M, De Alda ML, Barcelo D, Riva MC, Raldua D (2007) Combined use of biomarkers and in situ bioassays in Daphnia magna to monitor environmental hazards of pesticides in the field. Environ Toxicol Chem 26(2) 370-379... 

Damasio J, Tauler R, Teixido E, Rieradevall M, Prat N, Riva MC, Soares AMVM, Barata C (2008) Combined use of Daphnia magna in situ bioassays, biomarkers and biological indices to diagnose and identify environmental pressures on invertebrate communities in two Mediterranean urbanized and industrialized rivers (NE Spain). Aquat Toxicol 87 (4) 310-320... 

Fig. 8 Overall HQs for each bioassay fish (a) Daphnia magna (b) and algae (c) in every sampling site...

Ecotoxicity assessment of water samples was carried out, in parallel to chemical analysis, using three standardized bioassays based on the micro-crustacean Daphnia magna, the algae Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, and the bioluminescent bacteria Vibrio fischeri. 

Barata C, Alanon P, Gutierrez-Alonso S, Riva MC, Fernandez C, Tarazona JV (2008) A Daphnia magna feeding bioassay as a cost effective and ecological relevant sublethal toxicity test for environmental risk assessment of toxic effluents. Sci Total Environ 405(l-3) 78-86... 

Invertebrate species have been widely used in toxicity studies of pesticides [61]. Zooplankton play a key role in the food chain because they occupy a central position. Therefore, their responses to natural and anthropogenic stresses are intimately linked with other food predator organisms. The most widely accepted bioassays employ species such as Ceriodaphnia dubia, Daphnia magna, Artemia salina, or Thamnocephalus platyurus [62-64]. D. magna has been used for many years as a standard aquatic test species and formally endorsed by the major international organizations such as the EEC, OECD, and ASTM [65-67]. Its choice is mainly because it represents the zooplankton community and is a species of worldwide occurrence. In addition, it has a greater sensitivity to toxicants, particularly pesticides, compared with other aquatic species [61,68] (Table 1). 

The acute Daphnia bioassay is recognized to be one of the most standardized aquatic toxicity tests presently available and several intercalibration exercises report a reasonable degree of intra- and interlaboratory reproducibility [84-87]. 

The use of bioassays in environmental monitoring has not been developed in Chile [191]. In 1998 the Ministry of Agriculture started to set up a bioassay laboratory for evaluation of the presence of toxic substances in water for irrigation and animal consumption. This ministry is now in the process of implementation of EPA standardized crustacean and algal tests with Daphnia and Selenastrum capricomutum, respectively. There is no governmental wastewater bioassay monitoring. 

Acute static bioassays are employed to evaluate sample effects on fish and microinvertebrates. Fathead minnows and Daphnia pulex are the freshwater species employed, while sheepshead minnows and grass shrimp are used for marine assays. In all cases, the test organisms are exposed for 96 hours to prescribed concentrations of the sample introduced into holding tanks maintained at the same environmental conditions as a control population. 

Standardized ecotoxicity tests (bioassays) have been developed and optimized over the last few years and encompass the effects on bacteria, daphnia and fish (DIN 38 412, parts 30, 31 and 34). These tests are designed to assess the toxicity on aquatic organisms. They are quick to perform, easy to handle and comparatively inexpensive, with the goal of allowing the toxicity of a complex water matrix to be estimated. However, they use pre-concentration steps so that it is possible that not all byproducts are recovered (which itself is hard to prove). 

Martinez-Madrid, M., Rodriguez, P. and Perez-Iglesias, J.I. (1999) Sediment toxicity bioassays for assessment of contaminated sites in the Nervion River (Northern Spain). I. Three-brood sediment chronic bioassay of Daphnia magna Straus, Ecotoxicology 8, 97-109. 

Table 8. Average experts judgements on the adequacy of bioassays and other parameters in term of their usefulness for effluent toxicity assessment. Each expert had to rank usefulness as an integer value between 1 (least useful) to 5 (most useful) and they were also allowed to suggest other tests or parameters deemed useful. Some experts recommended tests without numerical ranking (Lemna minor and chronic Daphnia magna).

The pT-index scale appraises the relative hazard of aquatic environmental samples by assigning them to a numerical class. As bioassays within a test battery are considered equal in rank, the most sensitive test with its pTmax-value defines the toxicity class of the test material. If, for example, an effluent yields pT-values of 7, 2, 8 and 0 for the bacterial, algal, daphnid and fish tests, respectively, its pT-index is therefore assigned to toxicity class 8, based on the most sensitive response obtained with the Daphnia test. Since, by convention, sample toxicity classes are designated by Roman numerals, the test material is then assigned to toxicity class Vm. A toxicity class is not a strictly defined value, but rather the consequence of the... 

Dutka, B. (1989b) Daphnia magna 48 hours static bioassay method for acute toxicity in environmental samples, in B. Dutka (ed.), Methods for Toxicological Analysis of Waters, Wastewaters and Sediments, National Water Research Institute, Environment Canada, Burlington, Ontario, pp. 55-59. 

Three bioassays a) 48h and 96h acute crustacean test (Daphnia pulex) b) 96h acute fish test (Oncorhynchus mykiss and Oncorhynchus nerka) c) residual oxygen fish test (Oncorhynchus mykiss and Oncorhynchus nerka) Municipal solid waste (MSW) leachates originating from a) Landfills b) Laboratory lysimeters (downward) c) Field lysimeters (downward) Unspecified pretreatment... 

Four bioassays a) 5 min acute bacterial test (Vibrio fischeri) b) 11 to 21 d algal test (Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata) c) 48h acute crustacean test (Daphnia magna) d) 96h acute fish test (Pimephales promelas) Municipal and industrial solid waste leachates originating from a sanitary landfill Filtered (glass fiber and 0.45 pm membrane filters for algal test) and unfiltered... 

Two bioassays a) 48h plate incorporation AMES test with Salmonella typhimurium his- (TA 98, 100, 1535, 1537 et 1538) b) 24h acute crustacean test (Daphnia magna) MSW landfill leachates Ashes and slags from MSW incinerator leachates Centrifuged and 0.45 pm filtered only for AMES test... 

Loose, C.J., von Elert, E., and Dawidoxicz, P., Chemically-induced diel vertical migration in Daphnia a new bioassay for kairomones exuded by fish, Arch. Hydrobiol., 126, 329, 1993. 

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