VIEWPOINT Copper Effects on potential Sediment Test Organisms: the Importance of Appropriate Sensitivity

摘要

This article provides a review of available information on the sensitivitie to copper of marine and estuarine organ- isms, primarily those that might be suitable for use in sediment toxicity test, including temperate and tropical species. This review was necessitated by a need to identify a suitably sensitive test species for a specific study when preliminary testing showed that the original species se- lected was insensitive to copper. This example illustrates the importance of ensuring that the relative sensitivity of test species to the contaminant (s) of interest is evaluated as part of test species selection.