Use of the freshwater bivalve Hyridella australis as a biomonitor to assess the bioavailability and toxicity of metal contaminated sediments in the Molonglo River, NSW, Australia

Abstract

The effects of existing sediment metals in the mine contaminated Molonglo River,NSW, Australia on benthic biota were investigated by using the freshwater bivalve Hyridella australis in an assessment of the river health. Hyridella australis have not previously been used in sediment toxicological studies; therefore, the first part of this study involved the assessment of this organism as a biomonitor of sediment metal contamination in freshwater environments. This involved establishment of exposure – dose – response relationships for H. australis to single metal spiked sediments in laboratory microcosms. As zinc, lead and cadmium have been recorded as major metal contaminants in the Molonglo River sediments, based on ANZECC/ARMCANZ (2000) interim sediment quality guidelines, H. australis were exposed in three separate exposure experiments for 28 days to lead,<0.01(control),205 ± 9 (low) and 419 ± 16 (high) μg/g dry mass; cadmium

Date of Award	2014
Original language	English
Supervisor	Bill Maher (Supervisor), Anne Taylor (Supervisor) & Mark Lintermans (Supervisor)