No abstract

General rightsIt is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulationsIf you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: http://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. AbstractOrganisms in contaminated aquatic ecosystems are often exposed to toxicants for their entire lifetime. In order to evaluate the ecological consequences of long-term exposure to metals, we studied the relation between short-term and long-term effects of Zn and Pb on the filtration rate and survival of zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) in laboratory experiments. The results indicated that the effects of Zn and Pb on the filtration rate of D. polymorpha increased when the exposure time was increased, but it remained unclear whether the decrease in filtration rate is caused by accumulation of metals by the mussels or by the metal concentration in the water, or both. The capacity ofD. polymorpha to regulate the body concentration of the essential metal Zn decreased when the exposure time was increased, whereas the non-essential metal Pb could not be regulated by the zebra mussel. Not only the concentration of metal accumulated is of importance for survival, but also the rate of accumulation. It was concluded that the relation between short-term and long-term toxicity was different for each metal and could not be predicted from the results of the short-term experiments.

No abstract