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UPTAKE AND TOXICITY OF TOXAPHENE IN SEVERAL ESTUARINE ORGANISMS
Citation:
Schimmel, S., J. Patrick, Jr., AND J. Forester. UPTAKE AND TOXICITY OF TOXAPHENE IN SEVERAL ESTUARINE ORGANISMS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-77/066 (NTIS PB277156), 1976.
Description:
The organochlorine insecticide, toxaphene, was tested in flow-through bioassays to evaluate its toxicity to estuarine organisms. The organisms tested and their respective 96-hr LC50s (based on measured concentrations) are: pink shrimp (Penaeus duorarum), 1.4 micrograms/L; grass shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio), 4.4 micrograms/L; sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus), 1.1 micrograms/L; and pinfish (Lagodon rhomboides), 0.5 micrograms/L. Toxaphene concentration estimated to reduce shell deposition in American oysters (Crassostrea virginica) by 50% (EC50) was 16 micrograms/L. Concentration factors (concentration of toxaphene in tissues divided by concentration measured in water) for fishes and oysters in 96 hr ranged from 3,100 to 20,600 and for shrimp, from 400 to 1,200. Individuals from various ontogenetic stages of longnose killifish (Fundulus similis) were exposed to toxaphene for 28 days in flow-through bioassays. Toxaphene was toxic to embryos, fry, juveniles, and adult fish, but fertilization of ova in static tests was not affected by the concentrations tested (0.32 to 10 micrograms/L). The 28-day measured LC50s for all stages ranged from 0.9 to 1.4 micrograms/L. Toxaphene was accumulated in ova and other body tissues of the longnose killifish; concentration factors in ova were 1,000 to 5,500, and in whole-body tissues, 4,200 to 60,000. (Copyright (c) 1977 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.)