Why Caged Bivalves?                   
Integrated Exposure & Effects over Space & Time


Bioaccumulation estimates integrated,
 "real-world" exposures during the test period
Bivalves concentrate & integrate chemicals 
in their tissues

Transplants facilitate controlled field
experimentation under site-specific conditions 

Growth is easy to measure & understand, also represents an integrated record over the test period and has been linked to population effects

Why Bivalves?  Bivalves uptake most chemicals from water and sediment, do not metabolize them like fish or other species, concentrate them in their tissues, and integrate the exposure over space and time
Why Transplants?  Caging bivalves combines the advantages of experimental control from laboratory bioassays with the environmental realism from traditional field monitoring into controlled field experimentation; i.e., We can't change the wind or the tide, but we can adjust the sails
Why Bioaccumulation?  A single chemical analysis of bivalve tissue provides direct measurement and an integrated record of bioavailable chemicals that cannot be defined by analyzing 100's or even 1,000's of water or sediment samples;  many jurisdictions are beginning to include tissue chemistry criteria because the environmental significance of chemicals in water and sediment is unclear
Why Growth?  1) Bivalve growth is easily measured and understood; 2) Growth represents an integration of all internal processes; 3) Bivalve growth can be quantified as a dose-response, related to population effects, and used to predict other potential effects
Why Integration?  Measuring bioaccumulation and growth in caged bivalves facilitates characterizing exposure and effects for ecological risk assessments and helps clarify whether accumulated chemicals are having any adverse biological effects through synoptic measurements of bioaccumulation and growth in the same organism at the same time and under realistic site-specific conditions

Monitoring Exposure & Effects Over Space & Time

 

 

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