Toxicity of Triphenyltin and Tributyltin to the Freshwater Mudsnail Potamopyrgus Antipodarum in a New Sediment Biotest

Abstract

The effects of two suspected endocrine-disrupting chemicals, the xeno-androgens triphenyltin (TPT) and tributyltin (TBT), were investigated in a new whole-sediment biotest with the freshwater mudsnail Potamopyrgus antipodarum (Gastropoda, Prosobranchia). Artificial sediments were spiked with seven concentrations, ranging from 10 to 500 microg nominal TPT-Sn/kg dry weight and TBT-Sn/kg dry weight, respectively. We analyzed the responses of the test species after two, four, and eight weeks exposure. For both compounds, P. antipodarum exhibited a sharp decline in the number of embryos sheltered in its brood pouch in a time- and concentration-dependent manner in comparison to the control sediment. The number of new, still unshelled embryos turned out to be the most sensitive parameter. The lowest-observed-effect concentration (LOEC) was equivalent to the lowest administered concentration (10 microg/kg of each test compound) for most parameters and thus no no-observed-effect concentration (NOEC) could be established. The calculation of effect concentrations (EC10) resulted in even lower values for both substances (EC10 after eight weeks for unshelled embryos: 0.03 microg TPT-Sn/kg, EC10 after four weeks for unshelled embryos: 0.98 microg TBT-Sn/kg). Our results indicate that P. antipodarum is highly sensitive to both endocrine disruptors TPT and TBT at environmentally relevant concentrations.

Effect of substratum drying on the survival and migrations of a freshwater pulmonate snail Planorbarius corneus (Linnaeus, 1758)

“…In our experiments P. corneus burrowed just below the substratum surface, similarly to some other gastropods (Duft et al, 2003) and bivalves (Gough et al, 2012), whereas other pulmonate species from temporary ponds bury to depths as great as 7 cm (McMahon, 1983after Cheatum, 1934. Survival time during drought may be increased in the field, if snails can find relatively humid, protected microhabitats in the sediments (Machin, 1975;Facon et al, 2004;Collas et al, 2014).…”

Effects of Pharmaceuticals on Aquatic Invertebrates — The Example of Carbamazepine and Clofibric Acid

“…They were narcotized in a 2.5%-solution of MgCl 2 , the shell was broken and the embryos in the brood pouch were counted (for details cf. Duft et al 2003). Statistical analysis was performed using Statistica 5.0 and SPSS 6.1 Software.…”

“…This plant-and detritus-feeding species has been introduced in aquatic ecotoxicology while performing studies on endocrine disruption as effects are easy to determine by counting the embryos that the snails carry in their brood pouches. (Schulte-Oehlmann 1997; Duft et al 2003).…”

Endocrine disruptors in bottled mineral water: total estrogenic burden and migration from plastic bottles

“…In each replicate, 20 mudsnails were investigated for parthenogenetic production of embryos after 14, 28, and 56 days following a relaxation in 2.5% w/v magnesium chloride as reported previously (Duft et al 2003b;Jobling et al 2004). The total number of embryos per female after 56 days exposure proved to be a robust parameter for assessing endocrine disruptive effects in vivo.…”