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Sensitivity of freshwater mussels at two life stages to acute or chronic effects of sodium chloride or potassium chloride
Citation:
Ivey, C., J. Kunz, R. Consbrock, C. Ingersoll, N. Wang, B. Brumbaugh, E. Hammer, C. Bauer, T. Augspurger, Sandy Raimondo, B. Shephard, J. Bartoszek, C. Barnhart, AND N. Eckert. Sensitivity of freshwater mussels at two life stages to acute or chronic effects of sodium chloride or potassium chloride. Presented at SETAC North America 34th Annual Meeting, Nashville, TN, November 17 - 21, 2013.
Impact/Purpose:
Presentation at SETAC
Description:
Native freshwater mussels are in serious global decline and urgently need protection and conservation. Nearly 70% of the 300 species in North America are endangered, threatened, of special concern, or already extinct. The declines in the abundance and diversity of North American mussels have been attributed to a wide array of human activities that cause pollution, water-quality degradation, and habitat destruction and alteration. Limited studies indicate that freshwater mussels may be more sensitive to major ions such as chloride, sodium, and potassium than commonly tested organisms used to derive US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) ambient water quality criteria (AWQC). The objective of this study is to evaluate the sensitivity of fatmucket (Lampsilis siliquoidea) at two life stages (glochidia and juveniles) in acute or chronic exposures to sodium chloride (NaCl) or potassium chloride (KCl). We also tested the glochidia of fatmucket in 24-hour acute exposures in waters at different hardnesses ranging from 50 to 300 mg/L as CaCO3. We tested newly transformed or about 2 month-old juveniles of up to 11 mussel species in 96-hour acute NaCl exposures and newly transformed juveniles of four mussel species in 96-hour KCl exposures at hardness 100 or 170 mg/L as CaCO3. In our ongoing chronic 28-day exposures, we evaluated the effects of NaCl or KCl on juvenile fatmucket survival, weight and biomass. Acute EC50s from the glochidia tests increased from 674 mg NaCl/L at hardness 50 mg/L to 2692 mg NaCl/L at hardness 300 mg/L. Acute EC50s for newly transformed juveniles ranged from 2100 to 2600 mg NaCl/L and the EC50s for the 2-month-old juveniles ranged from 2500 to 5200 mg NaCl/L at a hardness of 100 mg/L. Most of these EC50s were below the final USEPA acute value in the acute AWQC (2834 mg NaCl/L or 1720 mg Cl/L). The 28-d NaCl EC20 for fatmucket based on biomass was 450 mg NaCl/L. Acute KCl EC50s for newly transformed juveniles of the four mussels ranged from 72 to 116 mg KCl/L, which makes these mussels the most sensitive species in a KCL toxicity database. Acute KCL exposure with glochidia and chronic KCl exposures with juvenile fatmucket are ongoing. The preliminary results indicate that mussels are generally more sensitive to NaCl and KCl compared to other species in national toxicity databases, and USEPA acute AWQC for Cl may not be protective of freshwater mussels.