Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is an industrial additive that is widely used as a plasticizer. Due to its widespread use, DEHP is often found in freshwater ecosystems and many freshwater species have been exposed to various levels of DEHP in natural aquatic systems. Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) is a metabolizing enzyme produced in response to exposure to DEHP. To evaluate the effects of DEHP ...

Threshold concentrations for treatment related effects of 31 insecticides, as derived from aquatic micro-/mesocosm tests, were used to calibrate the predictive value of the European Tier-1 acute effect assessment on basis of laboratory toxicity tests with Daphnia magna, Chironomus spp., Americamysis bahia and Gammarus pulex. The acute Tier-1 effect assessment on basis of Daphnia (EC(50)/100) ov...

Deformities and fluctuating asymmetry in chironomid larvae have been proposed as sensitive indicators of biological stress and are commonly used to assess the ecological impact of human activities. In particular, they have been associated in Chironomus riparius, the most commonly used species, with heavy metal and pesticide river pollution. In this study, the effect of lead and 4-nonylphenol on...

The effects of environmental contaminants (i.e., nonylphenol, bisphenol A diglycidyl ether, benzo[a]pyrene, chlorpyriphos, paraquat dichloride, and lead nitrate) on Chironomus hemoglobin were investigated in the 4th instar larvae of Chironomus riparius (Diptera: Chironomidae), with respect to the total hemoglobin contents, individual globin gene expression, individual globin protein expression ...

in most aquatic ecosystems mercury accumulates more in the sediment than in water column. however, due to limited eco-toxicological data, it is difficult to predict the toxicity of these sediments. the present study evaluated the effects of inorganic mercury in spiked sediment on the survival, growth, and emergence of the midge chironomus riparius and compared the results to mercury concentrati...

Bioassays are widely used to estimate ecological risks of contaminated sediments. We compared the results of three whole sediment bioassays, using the midge larva Chironomus riparius, the water louse Asellus aquaticus, and the mayfly nymph Ephoron virgo. We used sediments from sixteen locations in the Dutch Rhine-Meuse Delta that differed in level of contamination. Previously developed protocol...

The distribution and speciation of arsenic (As) were analyzed in individuals of various life stages of a midge, Chironomus riparius, and the mosquito Culex tarsalis exposed to 1000 μg/l arsenate. X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) revealed that C. riparius larvae accumulate As in their midgut, with inorganic arsenate [As(V)] being the predominant form, followed by arsenite [As(III)] and an As-...

OBJECTIVES Chironomus riparius, a non-biting midge (Chironomidae, Diptera), is extensively used as a model organism in aquatic ecotoxicological studies, and considering the potential of C. riparius larvae as a bio-monitoring species, little is known about its genome sequences. This study reports the results of an Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) sequencing project conducted on C. riparius larvae ...