History and sensitivity comparison of two standard whole-sediment toxicity tests with crustaceans : the amphipod Hyalella azteca and the ostracod Heterocypris incongruens microbiotest

The review first details the development of the test procedures with Hyalella azteca which historically emerged as one of the recommended test species for whole-sediment assays and its gradual standardization and endorsement by national and international organizations. The sensitivity and precision of the H. azteca test for application on chemicals and on real world sediments is discussed. The review subsequently addresses the development of the whole sediment microbiotest with the ostracod crustacean Heterocypris incongruens with larvae of this test species hatched from dormant eggs (cysts), rendering this assay stock culture/maintenance free. The application of the 6-day ostracod microbiotest on sediments in Canada and in Belgium is discussed, as well as its endorsement by the ISO subsequent to an extensive international inter-laboratory ring test. The sensitivity of the amphipod and ostracod tests is compared by data from studies in which both assays were applied in parallel. A comparison of more than 1000 ostracod/amphipod data pairs of a 12-year river sediment monitoring study in Flanders/Belgium confirmed that both whole-sediment assays have a similar sensitivity and that the 6-day ostracod microbiotest is a valuable and cost-effective alternative to the 10-14 day amphipod test for evaluation of the toxic hazard of polluted sediments

Waterbodem- en palingpolluentenmeetnet: een tandem voor de waterbodemsanering

Within the sediment monitoring network from the Flemish Environmental Agency (VMM) the sediment quality of 600 locations in Flanders in both navigable as well as in unnavigable waters, is monitored by means of the TRIADE method. This TRIADE sediment quality assessment is based on a combination of chemical, biological and ecotoxicological parameters. The Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO) uses the Flemish eel pollutant monitoring network to monitor 350 locations in Flanders. These locations are situated on canals, rivers and on closed water bodies. The concentrations of PCBs, heavy metals and organochlorine pesticides are quantified in eel. At the same time these concentrations in eel give us valuable information on the bioavailability of these substances. Closer cooperation between both monitoring networks will provide an efficient policy tool, specifically for the sanitation/decontamination of the sediment and for the water policy in general. We will go into detail on the practical implications of such a kind of cooperation keeping in account the history, singularity and complementarity of both monitoring networks

The inland water macro-invertebrate occurrences in Flanders, Belgium

The Flanders Environment Agency (VMM) has been performing biological water quality assessments on inland waters in Flanders (Belgium) since 1989 and sediment quality assessments since 2000. The water quality monitoring network is a combined physico-chemical and biological network, the biological component focusing on macro-invertebrates. The sediment monitoring programme produces biological data to assess the sediment quality. Both monitoring programmes aim to provide index values, applying a similar conceptual methodology based on the presence of macro-invertebrates. The biological data obtained from both monitoring networks are consolidated in the VMM macro-invertebrates database and include identifications at family and genus level of the freshwater phyla Coelenterata, Platyhelminthes, Annelida, Mollusca, and Arthropoda. This paper discusses the content of this database, and the dataset published thereof: 282,309 records of 210 observed taxa from 4,140 monitoring sites located on 657 different water bodies, collected during 22,663 events. This paper provides some background information on the methodology, temporal and spatial coverage, and taxonomy, and describes the content of the dataset. The data are distributed as open data under the Creative Commons CC-BY license

Hydrogen Susceptibility of Nanostructured Bainitic Steels

Abstract Nanostructured steels with an ultimate tensile strength of 1.6 GPa were produced with austenite content varying from 0 to 35 vol pct. The effect on the mechanical properties was assessed after saturating the steel with hydrogen. Elongation was reduced to 2 to 5 pct and UTS to 65 to 70 pct of prior value. Thermal desorption measurements confirmed the higher solubility of hydrogen in the steel with higher austenite content. The level of hydrogen saturation was found to correlate to the total area of grain boundaries rather than to the volume fraction of retained austenite.This is the final version of the article. It was first available from Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11661-015-3221-