title: A simple control for sediment-toxicity exposures using the amphipod, Hyalella azteca.
abstract: Sediment-toxicity exposures comparing survival and growth of the freshwater amphipod, Hyalella azteca, are often components of aquatic-habitat assessments. Standardized exposure methods have been established and require evaluations for quality assurance. Test acceptability using performance-based criteria can be determined from exposures to control sediments, which are collected from the environment or formulated from commercially available components. Amending sand with leached alfalfa solids provided a simple formulated sediment that elicited consistently acceptable survival and growth in 28-day exposures with and without a daily feeding regime. A procedure is described for preparing the sediment along with results from comparisons among sand, amended sand, and field-collected sediments that incorporated three feeding regimes.
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Lasier
authors.forename: Matthew L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Urich
mesh_terms: D033304:Amphipoda / Q000254:growth & development*; D000818:Animals; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000032:analysis; D005618:Fresh Water; D019015:Geologic Sediments; D000455:Medicago sativa; D012015:Reference Standards; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; D036401:Toxicity Tests, Chronic / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D012822:Silicon Dioxide