Assessing acute toxicities of pre- and post-treatment industrial wastewaters with Hydra attenuata: A comparative study of acute toxicity with the fathead minnow, Pimephales promelas

Journal Article · Thu Mar 31 23:00:00 EST 1994 · Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1897/1552-8618(1994)13[563:AATOPA]2.0.CO;2· OSTI ID:7051455

Fu, L J; Staples, R E; Stahl, Jr, R G ^[1]

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1. E.I. DuPont de Nemours and Co., Newark, DE (United States). Haskell Lab. for Toxicology and Industrial Medicine

This study was undertaken to (a) determine wastewater treatment effectiveness using two freshwater organisms, (b) compare acute toxicity results from the two species exposed to the wastewaters, and (c) link acute and potential developmental toxicity of wastewaters in one organism. The acute toxicities of several pretreatment and post-treatment industrial waste-water samples wee evaluated with adult Hydra attenuata and fathead minnows. The acute LC50s agreed closely when results in Hydra attenuata were compared with those from fathead minnow tests. Acute LC50s ranged from 3 to >100% of samples with hydra, and from 1.0 to >100% of sample with fathead minnows. The results provided strong evidence of treatment effectiveness because toxicity decreased with progressive stages of treatment. Previously the Hydra Developmental Toxicity Assay was used as a prescreen mainly for in vitro assessment of developmental toxicity with pure compounds and to prioritized toxicants according to selective toxicity to the developing embryo. Recently the authors modified the assay for testing natural waters and wastewaters; hence, some of the wastewater samples also were tested for their developmental toxicity. In this case, the relative selective toxicity of these wastewater samples ranged from 0.7 to 2.1, indicating that no sample was uniquely toxic to the developing embryo, although acute toxicity was manifested. Overall, their results indicate the Hydra Assay functions appropriately in assessments of acute and developmental toxicity of industrial wastewaters and may be a simple and useful tool in a battery of tests for broader scale detection of environmental hazards.

• OSTI ID: 7051455
• Journal Information: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry; (United States), Journal Name: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry; (United States) Vol. 13:4; ISSN 0730-7268; ISSN ETOCDK
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540320* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
560300 -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
BIOLOGICAL INDICATORS
BIOLOGICAL VARIABILITY
CHEMICAL EFFLUENTS
CHEMICAL WASTES
CNIDARIA
COELENTERATA
FATHEAD MINNOW
FISHES
GENETIC VARIABILITY
HYDRA
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INVERTEBRATES
LIQUID WASTES
MANAGEMENT
NONRADIOACTIVE WASTES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
PROCESSING
SENSITIVITY
TOXICITY
VERTEBRATES
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTE WATER
WASTES
WATER
WATER POLLUTION