Effects of temperature and oxygen concentration in sediment toxicity testing

Joint effects of temperature and oxygen concentrations for the results of sediment toxicity tests were studied at 10 and 20 °C with 40% and 80% dissolved oxygen (DO) saturation. Growth, feeding rate, and reproduction of Lumbriculus variegatus (Oligochaete) and growth, emergence, and survival of Chironomus riparius (Diptera) were tested in a polluted and in a reference sediment. Both the feeding of L. variegatus and the emergence of C. riparius were significantly retarded at low temperature. Additionally, differences in the sex ratio of the emerged adults of C. riparius were observed. The oxygen concentration alone did not have any significant effect on the endpoints, but significant combined effects of polluted sediment and low DO were observed on the biomass of L. variegatus. The standard sediment toxicity tests might offer only limited data for risk assessment of contaminated sediments at sites where the actual conditions largely differ from the laboratory conditions.