The effects of water chemistry on the toxicity of copper to fathead minnows

The effects of various water chemistry parameters on the toxicity of copper to larval fathead minnows were investigated. Increased pH, hardness, sodium, dissolved organic matter, and suspended solids each caused toxicity to decrease on the basis of total copper concentrations. In contrast, added potassium resulted in increased toxicity. Alkalinity had no observed effect on total copper LC50s, but its effects might have been masked by those of the cations added with it. In most cases, the effects of water chemistry were found to be similar for different endpoints (growth, survival at different durations), but there were differences in the relative magnitude of some effects across these endpoints. Over all experimental treatments, 96-h total copper LC50s varied 60-fold. Every water chemistry parameter also caused toxicity to vary significantly when expressed on the basis of cupric ion selective electrode measurements, sometimes more so than on the basis of total copper. Therefore, this study does not support attributing to cupric ion a singular importance in regulating toxicity to this test organism. A variety of copper species might be contributing to toxicity and it is evident that toxicity is also affected by water chemistry in ways not related to copper speciation.

[1]  J. Ruzicka,et al.  Selectrode®—The universal ion-selective solid-state electrode: Part II. Comparison of copper(II) electrodes in metal buffers and compleximetric titrations , 1972 .

[2]  J. Gulens,et al.  Kinetic influences on studies of copper(II) hydrolysis by copper ion-selective electrode , 1984 .

[3]  C. Zamuda,et al.  Bioavailability of dissolved copper to the American oyster Crassostrea virginica. I. Importance of chemical speciation , 1982 .

[4]  W. C. Mackay,et al.  Relationship of secreted mucus to copper and acid toxicity in rainbow trout , 1982, Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology.

[5]  J. J. Morgan,et al.  Hydrolysis of Cu(II)1 , 1977 .

[6]  D. R. Kester,et al.  Copper(II) ion hydrolysis in aqueous solution , 1980 .

[7]  M. Ahsanullah,et al.  Toxicity of copper to the marine amphipod Allorchestes compressa in the presence of water-and lipid-soluble ligands , 1984 .

[8]  J. G. Eaton,et al.  Effects of suspended clay on bioconcentration of Kelthane® in fathead minnows , 1983, Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology.

[9]  G. K. Pagenkopf.  Gill surface interaction model for trace-metal toxicity to fishes: role of complexation, pH, and water hardness , 1983 .

[10]  Duane A. Benoit,et al.  A continuous-flow mini-diluter system for toxicity testing , 1982 .

[11]  P. Maccarthy.  Critical stability constants, volume 5: First supplement , 1985 .

[12]  R. W. Winner.  Bioaccumulation and toxicity of copper as affected by interactions between humic acid and water hardness , 1985 .

[13]  F. Morel.  Principles of Aquatic Chemistry , 1983 .

[14]  J. B. Sprague,et al.  Copper lethality to rainbow trout in waters of various hardness and pH , 1978 .

[15]  R. Thurston,et al.  Toxicity of copper to cutthroat trout (Salmo clarki) under different conditions of alkalinity, pH, and hardness , 1979 .

[16]  P. Hodson,et al.  Effect of pH and Dissolved Organic Carbon on the Toxicity of Copper to Larval Fathead Minnow (Pimephales promelas) in Natural Lake Waters of Low Alkalinity , 1993 .

[17]  T. Theis,et al.  Effect of chemical speciation on the uptake of copper by Chironomus tentans , 1979 .

[18]  W. Carson,et al.  A mechanism of the effects of water hardness on the lethality of heavy metals to fish , 1976 .

[19]  W. Sunda,et al.  Chemical Speciation of Copper in River Water: Effect of Total Copper, pH, Carbonate, and Dissolved Organic Matter , 1979 .

[20]  Alex Avdeef,et al.  Calibration of copper ion selective electrode response to pCu 19 , 1983 .

[21]  R. Lloyd,et al.  THE INFLUENCE OF CARBON DIOXIDE ON THE TOXICITY OF UN-IONIZED AMMONIA TO RAINBOW TROUT (SALMO GAIRDNERII RICHARDSON) , 1960 .

[22]  T. Shaw,et al.  The toxicity of some forms of copper to rainbow trout , 1974 .

[23]  P. Côté,et al.  L'action de l'ammoniac sur l'oxyde cuivrique. et les hydroxo‐complexes de cuivre (II) , 1970 .

[24]  W. C. Mackay,et al.  The effects of hardness, alkalinity and pH of test water on the toxicity of copper to rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) , 1980 .

[25]  T. Florence,et al.  Evaluation of some physico-chemical techniques for the determination of the fraction of dissolved copper toxic to the marine diatom nitzschia closterium , 1983 .

[26]  M. A. Hamilton,et al.  Trimmed Spearman-Karber Method for Estimating Median Lethal Concentrations in Toxicity Bioassays , 1977 .

[27]  J. Giesy,et al.  Copper speciation in soft, acid, humic waters: Effects on copper bioaccumulation by and toxicity to simocephalus serrulatus (Daphnidae) , 1983 .

[28]  D. Laurén,et al.  Influence of water hardness, pH, and alkalinity on the mechanisms of copper toxicity in juvenile rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri , 1986 .

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

[30]  W. Carson,et al.  Prediction of incipient lethal levels of copper to juvenile Atlantic Salmon in the presence of humic acid by cupric electrode , 1973, Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology.

[31]  C. Baes,et al.  The hydrolysis of cations , 1986 .

[32]  U. Borgmann,et al.  Copper Complexation and Toxicity to Daphnia in Natural Waters , 1984 .

[33]  R. Wagemann.  Cupric ion-selective electrode and inorganic cationic complexes of copper , 1980 .

[34]  R. W. Winner.  The toxicity and bioaccumulation of cadmium and copper as affected by humic acid , 1984 .

[35]  N. Draper,et al.  Applied Regression Analysis , 1966 .

[36]  F. Beamish,et al.  The effect of copper, hardness and pH on the growth of rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri , 1978 .

[37]  U. Borgmann,et al.  Complexation and toxicity of copper and the free metal bioassay technique , 1983 .

[38]  U. Borgmann,et al.  Copper complexation and toxicity to freshwater zooplankton , 1984 .

[39]  G. Chapman,et al.  Effects of pH on the Toxicities of Cadmium, Copper, and Zinc to Steelhead Trout (Salmo gairdneri) , 1986 .

[40]  J. Meador.  THE INTERACTION OF PH, DISSOLVED ORGANIC CARBON, AND TOTAL COPPER IN THE DETERMINATION OF IONIC COPPER AND TOXICITY , 1991 .

[41]  P. Whitfield,et al.  Some particulate and soluble agents affecting the relationship between metal toxicity and organism survival in the calanoid copepod Euchaeta japonica , 1972 .

[42]  R. Thurston,et al.  Effect of Complexation on Toxicity of Copper to Fishes , 1974 .

[43]  U. Borgmann.  Metal speciation and toxicity of free metal ions to aquatic biota , 1983 .

[44]  J S Tucker,et al.  The influence of organic chelators on the toxicity of copper to embryos of the pacific oyster,Crassostrea gigas , 1981, Archives of environmental contamination and toxicology.

[45]  T. Shaw,et al.  Aspects of water quality and the toxicity of copper to rainbow trout , 1974 .

[46]  W. Brungs,et al.  Acute and chronic toxicity of copper to the fathead minnow in a surface water of variable quality , 1976 .

[47]  R. W. Andrew,et al.  Effects of inorganic complexing on the toxicity of copper to Daphnia magna , 1977 .

[48]  R. W. Andrew,et al.  Chronic Toxicity of NTA (Nitrilotriacetate) and Metal-NTA Complexes to Daphnia magna , 1974 .