Ammonia and sediment toxicity
- S.R. Hansen and Associates, Concord, CA (United States)
Ammonia toxicity to aquatic organisms has received considerable study, with most of these studies focusing on water column organisms. However, with the development and implementation of sediment (and pore water) toxicity tests, the toxicity of ammonia to benthic infauna and other sediment toxicity test organisms has become important, especially since sediment/porewater ammonia occurs at higher concentrations than in the water column. Unfortunately, there has been very little of this type information, especially for marine/estuarine organisms. This laboratory determined the toxicity of ammonia to three key marine/estuarine test organisms: the amphipod Eohaustorius estuarius, the bivalve Mytilus edulis, and the echinoderm Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. Because sediment/porewater pH can differ substantially from typical seawater pH, the toxicity evaluations covered a range of pH levels (6, 7, 8, and 9). Eohaustorius results indicate that while Total Ammonia increased in toxicity (measured as EC50) as pH increased (from 460 mg/L at pH 6, to 13 mg/L at pH 9), unionized ammonia toxicity decreased from 0.13 mg/L at pH 6 to 2.8 mg/L at pH 9. The amphipod was much less sensitive to ammonia than were the bivalve and echinoderm, with an unionized ammonia EC50 at pH 8 of 2.14 mg/L relative to 0.43 mg/L for the mussel and 0.13 mg/L for the purple urchin. These results are discussed with respect to design and interpretation of sediment toxicity test results, including an interpretation approach based on partitioning of Toxic Units (TU).
- OSTI ID:
- 37403
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9410273-; TRN: IM9519%%327
- 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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