Use of chironomid deformities to assess environmental degradation in the Yamaska River, Quebec.

The frequency of morphological deformities in chironomid larvae was used to assess environmental degradation at 12 sites in the Yamaska River, Quebec, that were known to be either impacted by agriculture or urban centres, or were relatively clean and used as reference sites. A total of 2273 chironomid larvae were examined for deformities. The overall frequency of deformities at polluted sites was 2.7%, whereas no deformities were observed at the reference sites. The highest incidence of deformities was found downstream of two urban centres, site 9 at Acton Vale (5.1% deformed) and site 12 at Ste Hyacinthe (5.3% deformed). The frequency of deformities at the agricultural sites ranged from 0.8 to 2.5% and was comparable to sites receiving municipal sewage effluent. The occurrence of higher frequencies of deformities downstream of urban centres indicates that the frequency of deformities increases with environmental degradation.