Suitability of the marine prosobranch snail Hydrobia ulvae for sediment toxicity assessment: A case study with the anionic surfactant linear alkylbenzene sulphonate (LAS)

Individuals of the mudsnail Hydrobia ulvae (Pennant) (Mollusca: Prosobranchia) were exposed to sediments spiked with increasing concentrations (1.59–123.13 mg kg−1 dry weight) of the anionic surfactant linear alkylbenzene sulphonate (LAS) which is employed in the formulation of laundry powders and liquids, as well as hand dishwashing products. The suitability of the selected organism, H. ulvae for routine sediment toxicity testing was evaluated by measuring acute toxicity recording survival. Sublethal toxicity was evaluated as total number of produced veliger larvae per treatment throughout the test (9 d). Mortality has shown to be a reliable and reproducible indicator of acute toxicity. LC50 values were comprised between 203.4 (48 h) and 94.3 mg kg−1 (9 d) dry weight. As sublethal endpoint, the total number of produced larvae showed to be a useful indicator of toxicity for this organism. The number of produced larvae increased at lower exposure concentrations, whereas at the highest LAS concentration, the number of produced larvae decreased. This is the first report of acute and sublethal toxicity of sediment associated LAS for this species.