title: A novel bioassay using the barnacle Amphibalanus amphitrite to evaluate chronic effects of aluminium, gallium and molybdenum in tropical marine receiving environments.
abstract: A need exists for appropriate tools to evaluate risk and monitor potential effects of contaminants in tropical marine environments, as currently impact assessments are conducted by non-representative approaches. Here, a novel bioassay is presented that allows for the estimation of the chronic toxicity of contaminants in receiving tropical marine environments. The bioassay is conducted using planktonic larvae of the barnacle Amphibalanus amphitrite and is targeted at generating environmentally relevant, chronic toxicity data for water quality guideline derivation or compliance testing. The developmental endpoint demonstrated a consistently high control performance, validated through the use of copper as a reference toxicant. In addition, the biological effects of aluminium, gallium and molybdenum were assessed. The endpoint expressed high sensitivity to copper and moderate sensitivity to aluminium, whereas gallium and molybdenum exhibited no discernible effects, even at high concentrations, providing valuable information on the toxicity of these elements in tropical marine waters.
authors.affiliation: Australian Institute of Marine Science, PO Box 41775, Casuarina, NT 0811, Australia. Electronic address: j.vandam@aims.gov.au.
authors.forename: Joost W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: van Dam
authors.affiliation: Australian Institute of Marine Science, PO Box 41775, Casuarina, NT 0811, Australia; Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist, GPO Box 461, Darwin, NT 0801, Australia; Charles Darwin University, PO Box 40146, Casuarina, NT 0811, Australia. Electronic address: melanie.trenfield@environment.gov.au.
authors.forename: Melanie A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Trenfield
authors.affiliation: Australian Institute of Marine Science, PO Box 41775, Casuarina, NT 0811, Australia. Electronic address: s.harries@aims.gov.au.
authors.forename: Simon J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Harries
authors.affiliation: Australian Institute of Marine Science, PO Box 41775, Casuarina, NT 0811, Australia. Electronic address: c.stretenjoyce@aims.gov.au.
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Streten
authors.affiliation: Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist, GPO Box 461, Darwin, NT 0801, Australia. Electronic address: andrew.harford@environment.gov.au.
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Harford
authors.affiliation: Charles Darwin University, PO Box 40146, Casuarina, NT 0811, Australia; Rio Tinto Aluminium, GPO Box 153, Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia. Electronic address: david.parry@riotinto.com.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Parry
authors.affiliation: Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist, GPO Box 461, Darwin, NT 0801, Australia. Electronic address: rick.vandam@environment.gov.au.
authors.forename: Rick A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: van Dam
mesh_terms: D000535:Aluminum / Q000633:toxicity*; D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay / Q000379:methods*; D003300:Copper / Q000633:toxicity; D005708:Gallium / Q000633:toxicity; D007814:Larva / Q000187:drug effects; D008982:Molybdenum / Q000633:toxicity; D011786:Quality Control; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D001468:Thoracica / Q000187:drug effects*; D060753:Water Quality
chemical_list: D003300:Copper; D008982:Molybdenum; D005708:Gallium; D000535:Aluminum
keywords: Alumina refinery; Aluminium; Amphibalanus amphitrite; Chronic toxicity; Larval development; Tropical marine ecotoxicology