ISO/CD TS 21738

Water quality — Active biomonitoring method with in-situ caged benthic amphipods

Scope

This document describes a method to expose test organisms (amphipods), directly on the field by a caging methodology, with the aim to measure bioaccumulation of chemical substances on a monitoring station, i.e. the concentrations of metals and/or organic compounds accumulated in the organisms.
The use of invasive species should be avoided at areas where they are not considered like indigenous species. A summary table is proposed in Annex A to reference for each species its indigenous area. Further species could be added in this annex. Freshwater or marine species could be used.
This document also describes the specifications for test organism selection and conditioning, in situ exposure, and finally sorting and conditioning of the surviving organisms after exposure.
The application domain of method is depending on the characteristics of the used species. A summary table is proposed in Annex B to reference for each species the main indications about exposure time, matrix, physicochemical parameters for optimal exposure, range of average weight per individual, organisms’ density in cage. Further species could be added in this annex.
The organism preparation methods (freeze-drying, extraction, mineralization) and quantification of the chemical substances do not fall within the scope of this document.