Ecotoxicity assessment of contaminated dredged material with the marine amphipod Corophium volutator.

The incorporation of toxicological data from bioassays can improve the present system of sediment quality criteria in the Netherlands. The use of acute lethality toxicity tests alone does not however provide sufficient discrimination and sensitivity for predicting ecological effects of slightly and moderately contaminated dredged material. Sublethal endpoints are needed for the assessment of environmental hazards of such dredged material. In this study, two approaches were used to identify toxicity of marine sediments collected from 16 locations classified as 'slightly and moderately contaminated' on the basis of chemical data: (1) a comparison of growth vs. mortality as different endpoints in the marine amphipod Corophium volutator (Pallas); (2) an investigation on the use of sediment dilutions to characterize the degree of toxicity. The influence of sediment storage time on toxicity was also evaluated. In four out of 16 locations, mortality over 10 days of exposure ranged 80-100%; in two out of 16 locations mortality ranged 40-60%. In the other 10 locations, mortality was below 15%. Results on growth showed that in all locations final dry weight values were significantly lower (a factor of 1.5 to 3) than in controls. Results of dilution experiments showed that if sediments were diluted with a reference sediment of similar physicochemical characteristics, total concentrations of metals, mineral oil, and PAHs decreased as expected and so did the effects on C. volutator. In the 100% contaminated sediments growth was reduced by 32- 60% compared to controls. The dilution rate necessary to reduce toxicity to the E