Acute Toxicity and Bioaccumulation of Chloroform to Four Species of Freshwater Fish

Acute toxicity of chloroform to four species of freshwater fish was studied in flow-through 96-hr toxicity tests. Chloroform is toxic to fish in the tens of parts per million, a concentration well above that which would be expected to be produced under normal power plant chlorination conditions. Investigations of acute toxicity of chloroform and the bioaccumulation of chlorinated compounds in tissues of fish revealed differences in tolerance levels and tissue accumulations. Mean 96-hr LC{sub 50}s for chloroform were 18 ppm for rainbow trout and bluegill, 51 ppm for largemouth bass and 75 ppm for channel catfish. Mortalities of bluegill and largemouth bass occurred during the first 4 hr of exposure while rainbow trout and channel catfish showed initial tolerance and mortalities occurred during the latter half of the 96-hr exposure. Rainbow trout had the highest level of chloroform tissue accumulation, 7 {micro}g/g tissue, catfish the second highest, 4 {micro}g/g tissue, followed by bluegill and largemouth bass which each accumulated about 3 {micro}g/g tissue. Accumulation of chloroform was less than one order of magnitude above water concentrations for all species