Sediment Contamination and Toxicity in the Guadalquivir River (Southwest, Spain)

A segment of the Guadalquivir River was assessed between Alcalá del Río dam and Seville through an integrative sediment quality assessment. Chemical concentrations metals toxicity under laboratory conditions were used as lines evidence. battery bioassays with four organisms (the amphipod Ampelisca brevicornis, bacteria Vibrio fischeri, sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus, oligochaete Tubifex tubifex) exposed to made it possible determine potential risk associated. The sediments from showed higher values concentration most than Algaba station, Cu (35–37 µg/g), Zn (70–75 Ni (23–26 Pb (27–30 µg/g) being abundant metals. An increasing gradient shown downstream among A. fertilization test using P. freshwater worm growth T. tubifex. Conversely, upstream in embryo-larval lividus development. link contamination makes obtain a contaminant comparable nationally internationally widely accepted guidelines order establish associated this area study.