Avoidance tests as a tool to detect sublethal effects of oil-impacted sediments.

Currently, risk assessment for oil contamination does not consider behavioral responses of benthos to oil toxicity. Avoidance of oil-contaminated sediment by benthic amphipods, however, may be a highly sensitive endpoint for sublethal effects of commonly used distillate fuels. In the present study, the avoidance behavior of temperate freshwater (Gammarus pulex) and marine (Gammarus locusta) amphipods was tested by allowing them to choose between a reference sediment and a distillate marine grade A (DMA) oil-spiked sediment.