Studying sediments is essential for evaluating the ecological integrity of aquatic ecosystems. However the biogeochemical complexity of this compartment involves real difficulties for sediments risk assessment. The biological diversity has to be considered using a battery of organisms. Furthermore, the role of sediments geochemical properties is often underestimated in mediating organisms responses when exposed to contaminants (e.g., organic matter ; particles size). Despite the existence of standardized toxicity bioassays, none is taking into account the natural variability of sediments geochemical properties and its impact on organisms life-traits responses. To address this gap, a battery of biotests using three phylogenetically different macroinvertebrates (C. riparius; P. antipodarum; G. fossarum) has been developed (DIESE project) following two steps: - The first part consisted in determining the intrinsic variability of life-traits in each species in controlled conditions. We exposed the above organisms to natural, low contaminated sediments covering a wide range of geochemical characteristics (C/N, particles size), then measured the response of selected endpoints (e.g., growth, reproduction). - The second part consisted in the exposure of the organisms to sediments selected to cover a wide range of contamination typologies (e.g., high metal contents; impacted with WWTP effluents). Results have been compared to the range of responses previously obtained. This step by step approach emphasizes the importance of taking into account the natural variability in organisms life-traits responses when exposed to references sediments. This work allowed to evaluate the capacity of the proposed battery to discriminate significant anthropogenic effects from the natural variability of responses.