Pollution Biology — The North American Experience
Earliest references to tubificids in pollution biology in North America were related to the simple abundance of the group in grossly polluted situations. With the improvement in taxonomy in the decade of the sixties, it was possible to recognize species assemblages, especially in the St. Lawrence Great Lakes. The distribution of these associations has now been worked out in considerable detail, and consulting companies and government agencies now work with identified species. Very few traditional laboratory tolerance tests have been done, but a start has been made on the investigation of the activity of worms in recycling sediment contaminants such as metals.