ISSN:
1573-3017
Keywords:
Ammonia
;
in situ monitoring
;
crustacea
;
heart rate
;
flow injection
;
landfill leachate
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Energy, Environment Protection, Nuclear Power Engineering
Notes:
Abstract A portable, computer-aided physiological monitoring system (CAPMON) has been integrated with an automated, flow injection (FI) based chemical monitor to enable continuous, long-term recording of cardiac activity in selected aquatic organisms, and total ammonia concentration in the surrounding environment. Heart rate of the freshwater crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus was recorded using non-invasive infrared emitter/detectors to transduce heart beat from 4 animals simultaneously. Data were collected continuously and stored on a laptop computer. The chemical monitor incorporated a gas diffusion unit and a solid state photometric detector. Remote control and data processing were accomplished using an in-house designed microcomputer. The instrumentation was fully evaluated in the laboratory and the field and was shown to be capable of operating unattended for periods of at least 1 week. An exposure-response experiment showed that 4 h exposures to concentrations of ammonia greater than 5 mg l-1 had a significant stimulatory effect on heart rate (ANOVA F=7.6; df=5; P〈0.0005). The feasibility of using the system in situ was demonstrated in a 2 week field trial in which the integrated monitors were successfully deployed at a landfill leachate lagoon.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1026400532305
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