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ACUTE TOXICITY OF SELECTED ORGANIC COMPOUNDS TO FATHEAD MINNOWS
Citation:
Mattson, V., J. Arthur, AND C. Walbridge. ACUTE TOXICITY OF SELECTED ORGANIC COMPOUNDS TO FATHEAD MINNOWS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/3-76/097 (NTIS PB262897), 1976.
Description:
Static nonrenewal laboratory bioassays were conducted with 26 organic compounds commonly used by industry. The selected compounds represented the five following chemical classes: acids, alcohols, hydrocarbons, ketones and aldehydes, and phenols. Juvenile fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) were the test animal, and test duration was limited to 96 hr. Lake Superior water served as the diluent source for all test compounds. Additional tests were conducted with a reconstituted diluent water for five compounds. The alcohol compounds were generally 10 to 100 times less toxic than chemicals tested in the other four chemical classes. Compounds in the other four classes had a similar toxicity range. The most lethal chemical tested was pentachlorophenol (96-hr LC50 of 0.6 mg/l.) and the least lethal was ethanol (96-hr LC50 of 13,480 mg/l.). Most of the minnow deaths occurred during the first 24 hr. Comparative chemical tests in the two diluent waters gave similar lethal responses.