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CHARACTERISTICS AND TOXICITY OF THE DRINKING WATER DISINFECTION BY-PRODUCT 3-CHLORO-4(DICHLOROMETHYL)-5-HYDROXY-2[5H]-FURANONE (MX) TO MEDAKA (ORYZIAS LATIPES)
Citation:
Geter, D. R., W. E. Hawkins, AND J W. Fournie. CHARACTERISTICS AND TOXICITY OF THE DRINKING WATER DISINFECTION BY-PRODUCT 3-CHLORO-4(DICHLOROMETHYL)-5-HYDROXY-2[5H]-FURANONE (MX) TO MEDAKA (ORYZIAS LATIPES). Presented at 63rd Annual Meeting, Mississippi Academy of Sciences, Biloxi, MS, 23-25 February 2000.
Description:
The compound 3-chloro-4-(dichloromethyl)-5-hydroxy-2(5H)-furanone, also known as MX, is a by-product of wood pulp manufacture and a contaminant of chlorinated drinking and sewage water. MX has recently been shown to be carcinogenic to rodents. However, no data exist for its effects on fish. We investigated the acute toxicity of MX in a 48-hour LC50 static exposure using Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) fry. Ten-day-old medaka were exposed to MX concentrations of 0, 25, 50, 100 and 200 mg/L. Calculations using the moving average and binomial methods gave an approximate 48-hour LC50 of 138 and 128 mg/L, respectively. The MX in solution decreased an average of 15% in 48 hours across all test concentrations with a half-life of 120 hours. Concentrations of MX found in environmental and drinking waters (normally in the lower parts per billion) are far below that found to be toxic to medaka in this study. Nevertheless, these data help establish exposure conditions that will allow us to investigate mechanisms of MX effects on fish, especially studies designed to determine the carcinogenicity of MX.