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Title: Field and laboratory tests on acute toxicity of cadmium to freshwater crayfish

Journal Article · · Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol.; (United States)
OSTI ID:5217221

Environmental regulatory standards for cadmium (EPA 1980), like those for most pollutants, are based on acute, laboratory toxicity tests of single species. Such tests can be conducted rapidly and inexpensively in comparison to acute or chronic field studies, but their validity has often been questioned. Laboratory-based criteria are subject to two criticisms: (1) chemical and physical conditions differ greatly in degree and variability from laboratory to field, and (2) species are not isolated, but live in an ecosystem of interacting taxa and biofeedback. To investigate the validity of basing field toxicity standards on laboratory data, the authors subjected the freshwater crayfish Orconectes immunis for 96 h to various levels of cadmium in laboratory aquaria and experimental ponds. The study was designed to evaluate in part the first criticism of lab-based criteria. The studies were conducted concurrently with similar short-term experiments on the fathead minnow, Pimephales promelas, and coincided with studies of chronic cadmium stress on fathead minnows in experimental ponds.

Research Organization:
Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY
OSTI ID:
5217221
Journal Information:
Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol.; (United States), Vol. 37:3
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English