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Towards a multi-bioassay-based index for toxicity assessment of fluvial waters

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Abstract

Despite their proven reliability for revealing ‘acceptable’ degrees of toxicity in waste- and reclaimed waters, bioassays are rarely used to assess the toxicity of hazardous contaminants present in natural waters. In this study, we used organisms from different trophic levels to assess the toxicity of water samples collected from four different South Korean rivers. The main objective was to develop a multi-descriptor index of toxicity for undiluted river water. The responses of six test organisms (Aliivibrio fischeri, Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, Heterocypris incongruens, Moina macrocopa, Danio rerio and Lemna minor) after laboratory exposure to water samples were considered for this index, as well as the frequency of teratologies in diatom assemblages. Each individual test was attributed a toxicity class and score (three levels; no toxicity = 0, low toxicity = 1, confirmed toxicity = 2) based on the organism’s response after exposure and a total score was calculated. The proposed index also considers the number of test organisms that received the highest toxicity score (value = 2). An overall toxicity category was then attributed to the water sample based on those two metrics: A = no toxicity, B = slight toxicity, C = moderate toxicity; D = toxicity and E = high toxicity. The susceptibility of the test organisms varied greatly and the sensitivity of their response also differed among bioassays. The combined responses of organisms from different trophic levels and with different life strategies provided multi-level diagnostic information about the intensity and the nature of contamination.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partly supported by Post-Doctor Research Program (2016) through Incheon National University and Industrial Strategic Technology Development Program (Grant No. 10079956) funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy. We are grateful to Dr. J.C. Taylor (North-West University, South Africa) for his generous donation of Pleurax and to Emilie Saulnier-Talbot for valuable comments on the manuscript and for English revision.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Green Environmental Research Center, 169, Gaetbeol-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, 21999, South Korea

    Lalit K. Pandey

  2. Department of Plant Science, Faculty of Applied Sciences, MJP Rohilkhand University, Bareilly, 243006, India

    Lalit K. Pandey

  3. Institut national de la recherche scientifique, centre Eau Terre Environnement, 490 rue de la Couronne, Québec City, Québec, G1K 9A9, Canada

    Isabelle Lavoie

  4. Irstea, UR EABX, 50 avenue de Verdun, 33612, Cestas Cedex, France

    Soizic Morin

  5. Lab of Plant Growth Analysis, Ghent University Global Campus, 119, Songdomunwha-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, 21985, Republic of Korea

    Stephen Depuydt & Jihae Park

  6. Department of Life Sciences, Jilin Normal University, Siping City, Jilin Province, China

    Jie Lyu

  7. Department of Marine Sciences, Incheon National University, 119, Academy-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, 22012, South Korea

    Hojun Lee & Taejun Han

  8. Division of Environmental Science & Ecological Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, 02841, South Korea

    Jinho Jung

  9. Ecotoxicology Team, Korea Institute of Toxicology, Daejeon, 34114, South Korea

    Dong-Hyuk Yeom

  10. Ghent University Global Campus, 119, Songdomunwha-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, 21985, South Korea

    Taejun Han

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  2. Isabelle Lavoie
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  3. Soizic Morin
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  4. Stephen Depuydt
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  5. Jie Lyu
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  6. Hojun Lee
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  7. Jinho Jung
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  8. Dong-Hyuk Yeom
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  9. Taejun Han
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  10. Jihae Park
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jihae Park.

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Highlights

- An ecotoxicological assessment of natural waters based on a multi-organism trial was conducted in four South Korean rivers.

- The tested organisms showed distinct levels of performance in their response to natural waters.

- A scoring system is proposed to integrate biological responses into an overall toxicity category.

- This bioassay approach identified more sites as potentially degraded as did water chemistry measurements alone.

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Pandey, L.K., Lavoie, I., Morin, S. et al. Towards a multi-bioassay-based index for toxicity assessment of fluvial waters. Environ Monit Assess 191, 112 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-019-7234-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-019-7234-5

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