Estimating responses of fish populations to toxic contaminants

In assessments of risks of toxic contaminants to fish populations, the endpoints of ultimate interest are the persistence, abundance, and production of populations. In this article we demonstrate a method for expressing toxicity test data obtained from full-life-cycle tests in terms of the same indices used to assess effects of harvesting and power-plant cooling systems on fish populations. Our approach involves fitting the logistic concentration-response function to chronic test data and coupling the functions obtained to a fish life-cycle model. Confidence bands derived from the data quantify uncertainties inherent in predicting population-level effects from (1) full-life-cycle test data for the species of interest, (2) extrapolation of a concentration-response function from an acute LC50 for the species of interest, and (3) extrapolation from an acute LC50 for another species. Using rainbow trout and largemouth bass as representative species, we evaluate the relative importances of three sources of uncertainty contributing to prediction intervals for populationlevel effects. We also compare population-level concentration-response functions to predicted and experimentally derived maximum acceptable toxicant concentrations for five toxic chemicals.

[1]  D. I. Mount.  Chronic toxicity of copper to fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas, rafinesque) , 1968 .

[2]  R. Sparks,et al.  A Computer Simulation of the Effects of Superimposed Mortality Due to Pollutants on Populations of Fathead Minnows (Pimephales promelas) , 1971 .

[3]  J. G. Eaton,et al.  Chloramine Toxicity to the Amphipod Gammarus pseudolimnaeus and the Fathead Minnow (Pimephales promelas) , 1971 .

[4]  J. Mckim,et al.  Effects of Long-Term Exposures to Copper on Survival, Growth, and Reproduction of Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) , 1971 .

[5]  Q. Pickering,et al.  Acute and Chronic Toxicity of Cadmium to the Fathead Minnow (Pimephales promelas) , 1972 .

[6]  R. Hermanutz,et al.  Captan Toxicity to Fathead Minnows (Pimephales promelas), Bluegills (Lepomis macrochirus), and Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) , 1973 .

[7]  Richard J. Brand,et al.  Large Sample Confidence Bands for the Logistic Response Curve and its Inverse , 1973 .

[8]  J. G. Eaton.  Chronic Cadmium Toxicity to the Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus Rafinesque) , 1974 .

[9]  A. Nebeker,et al.  Effect of Polychlorinated Biphenyl Compounds on Survival and Reproduction of the Fathead Minnow and Flagfish , 1974 .

[10]  P. H. Davies,et al.  The effects of zinc on rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) in hard and soft water , 1974, Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology.

[11]  Modelling the impact of waste on a stable fish population , 1975 .

[12]  D. Benoit.  Chronic Effects of Copper on Survival, Growth, and Reproduction of the Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) , 1975 .

[13]  R. L. Spehar.  Cadmium and Zinc Toxicity to flagfish, Jordanella floridae , 1976 .

[14]  G. Holcombe,et al.  Long-Term Effects of Lead Exposure on Three Generations of Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) , 1976 .

[15]  G. Holcombe,et al.  Long-Term Effects of Methylmercuric Chloride on Three Generations of Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis): Toxicity, Accumulation, Distribution, and Elimination , 1976 .

[16]  C. Goodyear.  Assessing the Impact of Power Plant Mortality on the Compensatory Reserve of Fish Populations , 1977 .

[17]  J. Mckim.  Evaluation of Tests with Early Life Stages of Fish for Predicting Long-Term Toxicity , 1977 .

[18]  K. Macek,et al.  Utility of Toxicity Tests with Embryos and Fry of Fish in Evaluating Hazards Associated with the Chronic Toxicity of Chemicals to Fishes , 1977 .

[19]  J. T. McFadden.  An Argument Supporting the Reality of Compensation in Fish Populations and a Plea to Let Them Exercise It , 1977 .

[20]  R. Hermanutz,et al.  Endrin and malathion toxicity to flagfish (Jordanella floridae) , 1978, Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology.

[21]  G. Leduc.  Deleterious Effects of Cyanide on Early Life Stages of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) , 1978 .

[22]  G. Holcombe,et al.  Toxic effects of zinc on fathead minnows Pimephales promelas in soft water , 1978 .

[23]  G. A. McFarlane,et al.  Elevated Heavy Metals: A Stress on a Population of White Suckers, Catostomus commersoni, in Hamell Lake, Saskatchewan , 1978 .

[24]  W. F. Holman,et al.  An Aquatic Safety Assessment of Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonate (LAS): Chronic Effects on Fathead Minnows , 1980 .

[25]  H. Bergman,et al.  Acute and embryo-larval toxicity of phenolic compounds to aquatic biota , 1980, Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology.

[26]  Q. Pickering.  Chronic toxicity of hexavalent chromium to the fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) , 1980, Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology.

[27]  J. David Allan,et al.  Life Table Evaluation of Chronic Exposure to a Pesticide , 1981 .

[28]  Effects of Kelthane and Pydrin on early life stages of fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) and amphipods (Hyalella azteca) , 1982 .

[29]  G. Holcombe,et al.  Effects of phenol, 2,4-dimethylphenol, 2,4-dichlorophenol, and pentachlorophenol on embryo, larval, and early-juvenile fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) , 1982, Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology.

[30]  Q. Pickering,et al.  Toxicity of aldicarb and fonofos to the early-life-stage of the fathead minnow , 1982, Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology.

[31]  D. Benoit,et al.  A fathead minnow Pimephales promelas early life stage toxicity test method evaluation and exposure to four organic chemicals , 1982 .

[32]  H. Bergman,et al.  Effects of naphthalene and benzene on fathead minnows and rainbow trout , 1982, Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology.

[33]  N. Hairston,et al.  The effects of a chronic mercury exposure on survival, reproduction and population dynamics of Mysidopsis Bahia , 1983 .

[34]  W. V. Winkle,et al.  Impingement losses of white perch at Hudson River power plants: Magnitude and biological significance , 1983 .

[35]  R. Gardner,et al.  Risk assessment by analysis of extrapolation error: A demonstration for effects of pollutants on fish , 1983 .

[36]  D. Tanner,et al.  Toxicity of the synthetic pyrethroids, permethrin and AC 222, 705 and their accumulation in early life stages of fathead minnows and snails , 1983 .

[37]  A. L. Jensen,et al.  Toxicant-induced fecundity compensation: A model of population responses , 1983 .

[38]  D. G. Stevens,et al.  Toxicity of silver to steelhead and rainbow trout, fathead minnows and Daphnia Magna , 1983 .

[39]  G. LeBlanc,et al.  The influence of speciation on the toxicity of silver to fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) , 1984 .

[40]  Richard L. Anderson,et al.  Toxicity of fenitrothion to fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) and alternative exposure duration studies with fenitrothion and endosulfan , 1984 .

[41]  G. Chapman,et al.  Growth and Survival of Developing Steelhead Trout (Salmo gairdneri) Continuously or Intermittently Exposed to Copper , 1984 .

[42]  D. G. Stevens,et al.  Toxicity of trivalent chromium to early life stages of steelhead trout , 1984 .

[43]  J. McCarthy,et al.  Chronic toxicity of di‐n‐butyl and di‐n‐octyl phthalate to Daphnia magna and the fathead minnow , 1985 .

[44]  Population and ecosystem theory in ecological risk assessment , 1986 .

[45]  Glenn W. Suter,et al.  Endpoints for responses of fish to chronic toxic exposures , 1987 .

[46]  W. S. Abbott,et al.  A method of computing the effectiveness of an insecticide. 1925. , 1925, Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association.