Toxicité sublétale du tétrachloroéthylène sur la crevette des marais Palaemonetes varians

Tetrachloroethylene, a chlorinated solvent, is detected in the plume of East-Toulon domestic wastes treatment plant. Its subletal toxicity was tested du ring 31 days in a flow-through system at Pen Bron aquaculture centre, using swampshrimp Palaemonetes varians as test organism. Under expérimental conditions : natural variations in temperature and salinity , normal pH, ammonia and dissolved oxyg~n values, running tetrachloroethylene concentrations (10, 100 and 500 µg.l-1) induced neither mortalities nor any change in molting frequencies of experirnented animaIs. Histology of gills in contaminated animaIs showed several non specific deteriorations which could be observed either in control or assay animaIs. Necrosis levels nevertheless, seem to increase in time and proportionally to tetrachloroethylene concentrations, as of 10 µg .1-1 which is a concentration similar to those observed in the vicinity of urban wastes discharge.