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ASTM E 1706 : 2020

Current

Current

The latest, up-to-date edition.

Standard Test Method for Measuring the Toxicity of Sediment-Associated Contaminants with Freshwater Invertebrates

Available format(s)

Hardcopy , PDF

Language(s)

English

Published date

01-07-2020

€113.96
Excluding VAT

Committee
E 50
DocumentType
Test Method
Pages
162
PublisherName
American Society for Testing and Materials
Status
Current
Supersedes

1.1Relevance of Sediment Contamination—Sediment provides habitat for many aquatic organisms and is a major repository for many of the more persistent chemicals that are introduced into surface waters. In the aquatic environment, both organic and inorganic chemicals may accumulate in sediment, which can in turn serve as a source of exposure for organisms living on or in sediment. Contaminated sediments may be directly toxic to aquatic life or can be a source of contaminants for bioaccumulation in the food chain.

1.2Sediment Assessment Tools—Several types of information may be useful in assessing the risk, or potential risk, posed by sediment contaminants, including: (1) chemical analysis of sediment contaminants; (2) sediment toxicity tests, (3) bioaccumulation tests; and (4) surveys of benthic community structure. Each of these provides a different type of information to the assessment, and integrating information from all four lines of evidence may often provide the most robust assessments.

1.3Strengths of Toxicity Testing of Contaminated Sediments—Directly assessing the toxicity of contaminated sediments provides some of the same advantages to sediment assessment that whole effluent toxicity testing provides to management of industrial and municipal effluents. As for effluent tests, direct testing of sediment toxicity allows the assessment of biological effects even if: (1) the identities of toxic chemicals present are not (or not completely) known; (2) the influence of site-specific characteristics of sediments on toxicity (bioavailability) is not understood; and (3) the interactive or aggregate effects of mixtures of chemicals present are not known or cannot be adequately predicted. In addition, testing the response of benthic or epibenthic organisms exposed via sediment provides an assessment that is based on the same routes of exposure that would exist in nature, rather than only through water column exposure.

1.4Relating Sediment Exposure to Toxicity—One of the challenges with sediment assessment is that the toxicity of sediment contaminants can vary greatly with differences in sediment characteristics; a bulk sediment concentration (normalized to dry weight) may be sufficient to cause toxicity in one sediment, while the same concentration in another sediment does not cause toxicity (for example, Adams et al. 1985) (1).2 Factors such as the amount and characteristics of the organic carbon present in sediment can alter the bioavailability of many chemicals (Di Toro et al. 1991 (2); Ghosh 2007 (3)), as can other characteristics such as acid volatile sulfide or iron and manganese oxides (Di Toro et al. 1990 (4), Tessier et al. 1996 (5)). Direct measurement of toxicity in contaminated sediments can provide a means to measure the aggregate effects of such factors on the bioavailability of sediment toxicants.

1.5Understanding the Causes of Sediment Toxicity—While direct testing of sediment toxicity has the advantage of being able to detect the effects of any toxic chemical present, it has the disadvantage of not providing any specific indication of what chemical or chemicals are causing the observed responses. Other techniques, such as spiked-sediment toxicity tests or Toxicity Identification Evaluation (TIE) methods for sediments have been developed and are available to help evaluate cause/effect relationships (USEPA 2007) (6).

1.6Uses of Sediment Toxicity Tests—Toxicity tests conducted on sediments collected from field locations can be used to: (1) conduct surveys of sediment quality as measured by sediment toxicity; (2) prioritize areas of sediment for more detailed investigation of sediment contamination; (3) determine the spatial extent of sediment toxicity; (4) compare the sensitivity of different organisms to sediment contamination; (5) evaluate the relationship between the degree of sediment contamination and biological effects along a contamination gradient; (6) evaluate the suitability of sediments for removal and placement at other location (for example, dredged material disposal); (7) help establish goals for remedial actions; and (8) assess the effectiveness of remedial actions at reducing sediment toxicity. These applications are generally targeted at assessing the likely biological effects of bedded sediments at field sites at the time of sampling. However, toxicity testing of natural or artificial sediments spiked with known quantities of chemicals can also be used to evaluate additional questions such as: (1) determining the potency of a chemical to organisms exposed via sediment; (2) evaluating the effect of sediment composition on chemical bioavailability or toxicity; (3) informing chemical-specific risk assessments for chemicals that may accumulate and persist in sediments upon release; (4) establishing regulatory guidance for chemicals in water or sediment. Spiked sediment studies have the advantage of allowing uni-variate experiments in which exposure gradients can be reliably constructed; as such they lend themselves to the derivation of standardized point estimates of effect, such as a median lethal concentration (LC50) or concentration reducing sublethal performance by a specified amount, such as an effect concentration (for example, EC20 estimated to reduce weight of test organisms by 20 %).

1.7Limitations—While some safety considerations are included in this standard, it is beyond the scope of this standard to encompass all safety requirements necessary to conduct sediment toxicity tests.

1.8This standard is arranged as follows:

Section

Scope

1

Referenced Documents

2

Terminology

3

Summary of Test Methods

4

Significance and Use

5

Interferences

6

Water, Formulated Sediments, Reagents

7

Health, Safety, Waste Management, Biosecurity

8

Facilities, Equipment, and Supplies

9

Sample Collection, Storage, Characterization, and Spiking

10

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

11

Collection, Culturing, and Maintaining the Amphipod Hyalella azteca and the Midge Chironomus dilutus

12

Interpretation of Results and and Reporting

13

Precision and Bias

14

Keywords

15

Annexes

Guidance for 10-d Sediment or Water Toxicity Tests with the Amphipod Hyalella azteca

Annex A1

Guidance for 42-d Sediment or Water Reproductive Toxicity Tests with the Amphipod Hyalella azteca

Annex A2

Guidance for 10-d Sediment or Water Toxicity Tests with the Midge Chironomus dilutus

Annex A3

Guidance for Sediment or Water Life Cycle Toxicity Tests with the Midge Chironomus dilutus

Annex A4

Guidance for Sediment Toxicity Tests with Juvenile Freshwater Mussels

Annex A5

Guidance for Sediment Toxicity Tests with the Midge Chironomus riparius

Annex A6

Guidance for Sediment Toxicity Tests with Mayflies (Hexagenia spp).

Annex A7

Guidance for Sediment Toxicity Tests with the Oligochaete Tubifex tubifex

Annex A8

References

1.9This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. Specific hazard statements are given in Section 8.

1.10This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.

ASTM E 1295 : 2001 : R2013 Standard Guide for Conducting Three-Brood, Renewal Toxicity Tests with <emph type="ital">Ceriodaphnia dubia</emph><emph type="bold">
ASTM E 1367 : 2003 : R2014 Standard Test Method for Measuring the Toxicity of Sediment-Associated Contaminants with Estuarine and Marine Invertebrates
ASTM E 1391 : 2003 : R2014 Standard Guide for Collection, Storage, Characterization, and Manipulation of Sediments for Toxicological Testing and for Selection of Samplers Used to Collect Benthic Invertebrates
ASTM E 1525 : 2002 : R2014 Standard Guide for Designing Biological Tests with Sediments
ASTM E 1563 : 1998 : R2012 Standard Guide for Conducting Static Acute Toxicity Tests with Echinoid Embryos
ASTM E 1611 : 2000 : R2013 Standard Guide for Conducting Sediment Toxicity Tests with Polychaetous Annelids
ASTM E 1841 : 2004 : R2012 Standard Guide for Conducting Renewal Phytotoxicity Tests With Freshwater Emergent Macrophytes (Withdrawn 2021)
ASTM E 2122 : 2002 : R2013 Standard Guide for Conducting In-situ Field Bioassays With Caged Bivalves (Withdrawn 2022)
ASTM E 2172 : 2001 : R2014 Standard Guide for Conducting Laboratory Soil Toxicity Tests with the Nematode <i xmlns:a="http://library.astm.org" xmlns=""> Caenorhabditis elegans</i>
ASTM E 2186 : 2002 : REV A : R2016 Standard Guide for Determining DNA Single-Strand Damage in Eukaryotic Cells Using the Comet Assay
ASTM E 2455 : 2006 : R2013 Standard Guide for Conducting Laboratory Toxicity Tests with Freshwater Mussels (Withdrawn 2022)
ASTM E 2591 : 2007 : R2013 Standard Guide for Conducting Whole Sediment Toxicity Tests with Amphibians
ASTM E 724 : 1998 : R2012 Standard Guide for<brk type="line"/> Conducting Static Acute Toxicity Tests Starting with Embryos of Four Species of Saltwater Bivalve Molluscs
ASTM E 3163 : 2018 Standard Guide for Selection and Application of Analytical Methods and Procedures Used during Sediment Corrective Action
ASTM E 1850 : 2004 : R2019 Standard Guide for Selection of Resident Species as Test Organisms for Aquatic and Sediment Toxicity Tests
ASTM E 1439 : 2012 : R2019 Standard Guide for Conducting the Frog Embryo Teratogenesis Assay-Xenopus (FETAX)
ASTM E 1676 : 2012 Standard Guide for Conducting Laboratory Soil Toxicity or Bioaccumulation Tests with the Lumbricid Earthworm <i>Eisenia Fetida</i> and the Enchytraeid Potworm <i>Enchytraeus albidus</i>
ASTM E 2552 : 2016 Standard Guide for Assessing the Environmental and Human Health Impacts of New Compounds for Military Use

ASTM E 11 : 2020 Standard Specification for Woven Wire Test Sieve Cloth and Test Sieves
ASTM E 1733 : 1995 : R2014 Standard Guide for Use of Lighting in Laboratory Testing
ASTM E 1733 : 1995 Standard Guide for Use of Lighting in Laboratory Testing
ASTM E 1325 : 2016 Standard Terminology Relating to Design of Experiments
ASTM E 1525 : 1994 Standard Guide for Designing Biological Tests with Sediments
ASTM E 456 : 2002 Standard Terminology for Relating to Quality and Statistics
ASTM D 1129 : 2013 : R2020 Standard Terminology Relating to Water
ASTM E 456 : 2013 : REV A : R2022 Standard Terminology Relating to Quality and Statistics
ASTM E 11 : 2024 Standard Specification for Woven Wire Test Sieve Cloth and Test Sieves
ASTM D 1129 : 2013 : R2020 : EDT 2 Standard Terminology Relating to Water
ASTM E 729 : 1996 : R2014 Standard Guide for Conducting Acute Toxicity Tests on Test Materials with Fishes, Macroinvertebrates, and Amphibians
ASTM E 456 : 2013 : REV A : R2022 : EDT 1 Standard Terminology Relating to Quality and Statistics
ASTM E 1241 : 2022 Standard Guide for<brk type="line"/> Conducting Early Life-Stage Toxicity Tests with Fishes
ASTM E 1733 : 2022 Standard Guide for Use of Lighting in Laboratory Testing
ASTM E 456 : 2013 : REV A : R2017 : EDT 5 Standard Terminology Relating to Quality and Statistics
ASTM E 1391 : 2003 : R2023 Standard Guide for Collection, Storage, Characterization, and Manipulation of Sediments for Toxicological Testing and for Selection of Samplers Used to Collect Benthic Invertebrates
ASTM E 1391 : 1994 Standard Guide for Collection, Storage, Characterization, and Manipulation of Sediments for Toxicological Testing
ASTM D 1129 : 2013 : R2020 : EDT 1 Standard Terminology Relating to Water
ASTM E 11 : 2022 Standard Specification for Woven Wire Test Sieve Cloth and Test Sieves
ASTM E 3163 : 2024 Standard Guide for Contaminated Sediment Site Risk-Based Corrective Action—Selection and Application of Analytical Methods and Test Procedures
ASTM E 1325 : 2021 Standard Terminology Relating to Design of Experiments
ASTM D 1129 : 2024 Standard Terminology Relating to Water
ASTM E 2455 : 2022 Standard Guide for Conducting Laboratory Toxicity Tests with Freshwater Mussels
ASTM E 1367 : 2003 : R2023 Standard Test Method for Measuring the Toxicity of Sediment-Associated Contaminants with Estuarine and Marine Invertebrates
ASTM E 1688 : 2019 Standard Guide for Determination of the Bioaccumulation of Sediment-Associated Contaminants by Benthic Invertebrates
ASTM E 1847 : 1996 Standard Practice for Statistical Analysis of Toxicity Tests Conducted Under ASTM Guidelines
ASTM E 943 : 2023 Standard Terminology Relating to Biological Effects and Environmental Fate
ASTM E 943 : 2008 : R2014 Standard Terminology Relating to Biological Effects and Environmental Fate (Withdrawn 2023)
ASTM E 729 : 2023 Standard Guide for Conducting Acute Toxicity Tests on Test Materials with Fishes, Macroinvertebrates, and Amphibians
ASTM E 1847 : 1996 : R2013 Standard Practice for Statistical Analysis of Toxicity Tests Conducted Under ASTM Guidelines (Withdrawn 2022)
ASTM D 4387 : 1984 : R1997 Standard Guide for Selecting Grab Sampling Devices for Collecitng Benthic Macroinvertebrates
ASTM E 1383 : 1994 : REV A Guide for Conducting Sediment Toxicity Tests with Freshwater Invertebrates (Withdrawn 1995)
ASTM E 1241 : 2005 : R2013 Standard Guide for<brk type="line"/> Conducting Early Life-Stage Toxicity Tests with Fishes (Withdrawn 2022)
ASTM E 456 : 2013 : REV A : R2017 : EDT 4 Standard Terminology Relating to Quality and Statistics
ASTM E 456 : 2013 : REV A : R2017 : EDT 6 Standard Terminology Relating to Quality and Statistics
ASTM E 729 : 2023 : EDT 1 Standard Guide for Conducting Acute Toxicity Tests on Test Materials with Fishes, Macroinvertebrates, and Amphibians
ASTM E 1525 : 2002 : R2023 Standard Guide for Designing Biological Tests with Sediments

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