Biological Responses of Lumbriculus variegatus Exposed to Fluoranthene-Spiked Sediment

Lumbriculus variegatus was used as a bioassay organism to examine the impact of the sediment-associated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) fluoranthene on behavior, reproduction, and toxicokinetics. The number of worms increased between the beginning and end of the experiment at 59 μg g⁻¹ fluoranthene, but at the next higher treatment (108 μg g⁻¹) the number of worms found was lower and not different from the control. Worms exposed to 95 μg g⁻¹ also exhibited increased reproduction when fed a yeast-cerophyl-trout chow mixture. On a total biomass basis, only the 95 μg g⁻¹ exposure with food exhibited a statistically significant increase over the nonfed control. Evaluation of reproduction at the two highest treatments was compromised by a brief aeration failure 2 days before the end of the experiment. The behavioral responses were followed as changes in biological burial rate (sediment reworking rate) of a ¹³⁷Cs-labeled marker layer. The biological burial rate increased toward a plateau as the concentration increased from the control (3.9 μg g⁻¹ dry weight total PAH) to 355 μg g⁻¹ dry weight fluoranthene in sediment. The aeration failure had minimal impact on the determination of reworking rate because all the data for the rate determination were collected prior to the aeration failure. Uptake and elimination rates declined with increasing treatment concentration across the range of fluoranthene concentrations, 59–355 μg g⁻¹ dry weight sediment. The disconnect between the increasing biological burial rates and the decreasing toxicokinetics rates with increasing exposure concentration demonstrates that the toxicokinetic processes are dominated by uptake and elimination to interstitial water. The bioaccumulation factor (concentration in the organisms on a wet weight basis divided by the concentration in sediment on a dry weight basis) ranged from 0.92 to 1.88 on day 10 and declined to a range of 0.52 to 0.99 on day 28 with the lowest value at the highest dose. Received: 31 May 2001/Accepted: 9 November 2001