Effects of exposure to a combination of zinc‐ and lead‐spiked sediments on mouthpart development and growth in Chironomus tentans

Abstract

Exposures to either zinc or lead in contaminated sediments have been shown to induce characteristic deformities in larval chironomids. This study examined the effects of exposure to lead and zinc in combination on Chironomus tentans larvae. Proportions of mouthpart deformities in populations of larvae reared in sediments containing nominal combinations of lead and zinc were tested for additive, synergistic, and antagonistic interactions using logistic regression. Metal body burdens, body size measurements, and survival were used to evaluate toxicity and developmental impacts. Results demonstrate zinc and lead mixtures produce fewer deformities than the individual metal, so their interaction may be characterized as antagonistic. However, exposure to the metal mixtures also caused delayed development and failure to hatch. The apparent decline in deformities may be an artifact of higher mortalities or developmental effects. This research provides better understanding of some of the problems and considerations for use of chironomid population deformity proportions in bioassessments for sediment metal contamination.

The impact of some inorganic substances on change in body mass of Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae) larvae in a laboratory experiment

“…Disorders in the functions of organism of insects, which inhabited an environment contaminated with zinc, such as Pterostichus oblongopunctatus, Poecilus cupreus, were observed by Bisthoven et al (1992), Martinez et al (2001Martinez et al ( , 2002Martinez et al ( , 2004, Maryanski et al (2002), Lagisz (2008). Consumption of zinc-contaminated food by insects caused delays in their development, for example, among larvae of Aglais urticae (Linnaeus, 1758) (Lindqvist, 1994), Trichoplusia ni (Hubner, 1800-1803) (Larsen et al, 1994), P. oblongopunctatus (Zygmunt et al, 2006) and Issoria lathonia (Linnaeus, 1758) (Noret et al, 2007).…”

Exposure to metals and congenital anomalies: A biomonitoring study of pregnant Bedouin-Arab women

“…Developmental diseases of the embryo, among which are neural tube defects (Brender et al, 2006), have been related to the exposure to heavy and semi-heavy metals, as shown mostly in animal models (Lopez et al, 2008;Martinez et al, 2004;Robinson et al, 2009Robinson et al, , 2010. Sources of exposure to metals include industry, the home environment, health behavior and nutritional and dietary habits.…”

The effect of long-term contamination by heavy metals on community and genome alterations of Chironomidae (Diptera) in a stream with mine drainage water (southern Poland)

“…When they exceed threshold concentrations they can have very harmful effects on individual organisms, populations, communities and ecosystems. In aquatic ecosystems heavy metals can influence invertebrate development (Martinez et al 2004), abundance and structure of the population (Gower et al 2006), as well as influencing invertebrate morphology (Martinez et al 2009) and some genetic and physiological systems (Florea, Büsselberg 2006;Michailova et al 2012a, b).…”