The development of a site-specific water-quality standard for copper

Miscellaneous · Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:6720052

Sinclair, R M

This dissertation proposes to determine, for one toxic chemical, copper, if the Federal water quality standard and the state interpretation of that standard are appropriate for the Duck River, some 50 miles south of Nashville, Tennessee. This involved conducting toxicity tests in Duck River water, and the use of the computer metal speciation program MINTEQA1 to predict instream impact. The speciation model chosen for the determination of chemical equilibria in this study was MINTEQA1. To test the validity of the MINTEQA1 speciation model, water chemistry from the Duck River was entered into the model. At the typical site pH of 7.8, 55.7% of the copper is bound as Cu(OH){sub 2}, 29.8% is bound as copper humate, and 12.7% is found as CuCO{sub 3}. Of extreme importance to the toxicity of copper in the site water is the complete absence of the most toxic species, ionic copper. The test species were the brook silversides minnow (Labidesthes sicculus), mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis), caddisfly larvae (Cheumatopsyche sp.), fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas), geniculate river snail (Lithasia geniculata), sunfish (Lepomis sp.), and the amphipod (Hyalella azeca). The test concentrations were confirmed by atomic absorption spectroscopy on selected concentrations. The caddisfly larvae was the single most tolerant species observed during this study, while the amphipod and snail were the two most sensitive species tested.

• Research Organization: Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6720052
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
COPPER
TOXICITY
TENNESSEE
WATER POLLUTION
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
WATER QUALITY
STANDARDS
ABSORPTION SPECTRA
FATHEAD MINNOW
FISHES
INSECTS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
SNAILS
WATER CHEMISTRY
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
ARTHROPODS
CHEMISTRY
ELEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
FEDERAL REGION IV
INVERTEBRATES
METALS
MOLLUSCS
NORTH AMERICA
POLLUTION
SPECTRA
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
USA
VERTEBRATES
540320* - Environment
Aquatic- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
560300 - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
290300 - Energy Planning & Policy- Environment
Health
& Safety