Toxicity of ammonia in pore-water and in the water column to freshwater benthic invertebrates
- Univ. of Wisconsin, Superior, WI (United States). Lake Superior Research Inst.
- Environmental Protection Agency, Duluth, MN (United States)
Ammonia has been mentioned as both a primary toxicant and a factor that can produce false positive results in laboratory sediment tests using benthic invertebrates. This study developed a sediment dosing system that percolates an ammonia solution through sediment to achieve target porewater ammonia concentrations that remain stable over four and ten day spiked sediment tests. Ten day flow-through water-only tests and ten day spiked sediment tests were used to determine the toxicity of ammonia in the water column and in the sediment pore-water to the oligochaete Lumbriculus variegatus and the midge Chironomus tentans. Four-day tests were run with the amphipod Hyalella azteca. The relationship between water column ammonia toxicity and sediment pore-water ammonia toxicity is influenced by the organism`s association with the sediment. For Lumbriculus variegatus and Chironomus tentans that burrow into the sediment and are in direct contact with the porewater, the pore-water LC50 for ammonia is 30--40% higher than the water-only LC50 for each species. Hyalella azteca is epibenthic and avoids ammonia spiked sediment, thus ammonia in the water column is considerably more toxic than the pore-water ammonia with the porewater LC50 about 800% higher than the water only LC50.
- OSTI ID:
- 49531
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9410273-; TRN: IM9523%%354
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 15. annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), Denver, CO (United States), 30 Oct - 3 Nov 1994; Other Information: PBD: 1994; Related Information: Is Part Of Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 15th annual meeting: Abstract book. Ecological risk: Science, policy, law, and perception; PB: 286 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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