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(W/EH076a) The influence of sediment-associated phthalate esters on hatching and survival of the moorfrog Rana arvalis. Solyom, Peter1, Remberger, Mikael1, Viktor, Tomas1, 1 ABSTRACT- Moorfrog (Rana arvalis) egg hatchability and larval survival/development were examined in the presence of increasing concentrations of di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) in two types of sediment. Fine sediment comprising mostly degraded organic material and a coarse sediment consisting of more freshly deposited material were investigated. Test exposures were conducted at two temperatures 10 and 5°C. Each test series included three treatment concentrations 1000, 300 and 100 mg DEHP/kg dwt together with solvent and unspiked sediment controls. Five replicates were examined for each of the different treatments. Exposure to sediment associated DEHP at 10°C showed no significant effect on the hatching frequency and median hatching time for all tested concentrations, compared to the control groups. Experiments carried out at 5°C gave a significant decrease in hatching frequency for all treatments and controls compared to the 10°C series suggesting that the organisms were experiencing temperature-related stress. However, no statistically significant DEHP treatment related effects on hatching were observed in the 5°C treatment. Larvae mortality was less than 2% in all tested concentrations and controls and was not correlated to test temperature and no significant differences in mortality were observed among the various DEHP treatments. Diisononyl phthalate (DINP) was investigated in the same manner at 10°C. DINP showed no significant effect on the hatching frequency, median hatching time, or larval mortality at any of the tested concentrations when compared to the control groups. Key words: amphibians, sediment toxicity testing, phthalates |
