Abstract |
The objective was to investigate the toxicity to rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) of soluble anionic species and neutral precipitates of aluminum hydroxide complexes under known conditions of pH and concentration. The studies were divided into effects of aluminum on fingerling rainbows and effects of aluminum on fertilization and early life history. Fertilized eggs, fry, and fingerlings were exposed to aqueous aluminum complexes in neutral and basic media under constantly flowing, controlled conditions of aluminum concentration, pH, and temperature. Toxicities of various concentrations were highly pH dependent. Dissolved concentrations over 1.5 ppm aluminum caused physiological and behavioral aberrations as well as acute mortality. Toxic effects of suspended aluminum, though greater at lower concentrations, do not increase as much as the effects of dissolved aluminum with higher concentrations. (Modified author abstract) |