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Toxicity Testing with the Benthic Diatom Navicula libonensis (Schoeman 1970): Procedure Optimisation and Assessment of the Species Sensitivity to Reference Chemicals

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Abstract

Periphytic communities are good indicators of river quality due to their general sensitivity to several pollutants. The primary objective of this study was to develop and optimize an ecotoxicological testing methodology using the freshwater benthic diatom Navicula libonensis. This species was selected due to its ubiquity and suitability for use under laboratory conditions. In the most suitable test medium (Chu10) the diatom demonstrated comparable sensitivity to potassium dichromate and 3,5-dichlorophenol using growth rate as the reference parameter, with median effect concentrations (ErC50) in the same order of magnitude (0.119 and 0.799 mg L−1) respectively. Yield-based estimates did not confirm this pattern and potassium dichromate was one order of magnitude more toxic than 3,5-dichlorophenol. The sensitivity of N. libonensis to the reference chemicals was higher than that published in the literature for several standard planktonic microalgae. This advantage, as well as the ability to grow the species in the laboratory, supports further efforts towards the standardisation of a toxicity testing protocol. In addition, the functional role of benthic diatoms in lotic ecosystems justifies their inclusion in risk assessment test batteries to better cover an environmental compartment that has so far been neglected.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Dr. Marina Potapova for her kind contribution in the identification of Navicula libonensis as well as to the editor and an anonymous reviewer for their helpful comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. We would also like to thank Pedro Sousa who revised the final version of the manuscript for language fluency. Tânia Vidal, Joana Luísa Pereira and Nelson Abrantes received individual research grants from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) (SFRH/BD/48046/2008, SFRH/BPD/44733/2008 and SFRH/BPD/35665/2007, respectively). This study was funded by national funds through FCT and by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Competitiveness Factors Operational Program (COMPETE) under the scope of the projects PEst-C/MAR/LA0017/2013 and PTDC/AAC-AMB/112438/2009.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM), University of Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    Tânia Vidal, Joana Luísa Pereira, Amadeu M. V. M. Soares & Fernando Gonçalves

  2. Department of Environment and Planning, CESAM, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    Nelson Abrantes

  3. Department of Biology, GeoBioTec, GeoBioSciences, GeoTechnologies and GeoEngineering Research Centre, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    Salomé F. P. Almeida

Authors
  1. Tânia Vidal
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  2. Joana Luísa Pereira
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  3. Nelson Abrantes
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  4. Salomé F. P. Almeida
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  5. Amadeu M. V. M. Soares
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  6. Fernando Gonçalves
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Correspondence to Joana Luísa Pereira.

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Vidal, T., Pereira, J.L., Abrantes, N. et al. Toxicity Testing with the Benthic Diatom Navicula libonensis (Schoeman 1970): Procedure Optimisation and Assessment of the Species Sensitivity to Reference Chemicals. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 93, 71–77 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-014-1292-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-014-1292-8

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