Acute Toxicity of Heavy Metals, Tributyltin, Ammonia and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons to Benthic Amphipod Grandidierella japonica

Benthic amphipod, Grandidierella japonica widely inhabits the Korean coastal waters and is developed as a standard test species for sediment toxicity tests. We exposed G. japonica to various pollutants including 4 kinds of inorganic metals (Ag, Cd, Cu and Hg), tributyltin [TBT], ammonia and 7 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds (acenaphthene, chrysene, fluoranthene, fluorene, naphthalene, phenanthrene and pyrene) to estimate the no observed effect concentration (NOEC) and the median lethal concentration (LC50) of each pollutant during the 96-hour acute exposure. Among all tested pollutants, TBT was most toxic to G. japonica, and Hg was most toxic among inorganic metals. The toxicity of pyrene to G. japonica was greatest among PAH compounds, followed by fluoranthene, phenanathrene, acenaphthene, fluorene and naphthalene. The toxicity of PAH compounds was closely related to their physico-chemical characteristics such as Kow and water solubility. G. japonica responded adequately to pollutant concentrations and exposure durations, and the sensitivity of G. japonica to various inorganic and organic pollutants was generally comparable to other amphipods used as standard test species in ecotoxicological studies, indicating this species can be applied in the assessment of environments polluted by various harmful substances.