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Static acute toxicity of dibromonitrilopropionamide and selected degradation products to the fathead minnow ( Pimephales Promelas rafinesque)
Author(s) -
Mayes Monte A.,
Blanchard Fred A.,
Hopkins Daniel L.,
Takahashi Irene T.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
environmental toxicology and chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1552-8618
pISSN - 0730-7268
DOI - 10.1002/etc.5620040613
Subject(s) - pimephales promelas , minnow , toxicity , aquatic toxicology , acute toxicity , environmental chemistry , degradation (telecommunications) , toxicology , ecotoxicology , chemistry , biology , fish <actinopterygii> , fishery , organic chemistry , telecommunications , computer science
Dibromonitrilopropionamide (DBNPA) is the active ingredient in Dow Antimicrobials 7287® and 8536®. An important environmental feature of DBNPA is that it degrades very rapidly in water to a series of compounds including monobromonitrilopropionamide (MBNPA) and dibromoacetonitrile (DBAN). The objective of this study was to determine the toxicity of DBNPA, including the separate influences of the compound itself and of its degradation products, to the fathead minnow Pimephales promelas Rafinesque. The lability of DBNPA and the degradation products confounded the interpretation of the results. To aid in explaining the observed toxicity data, a model was used that treated DBNPA and its degradation products as a complex mixture, with the components having an assumed additive effect on the test species. Only DBNPA, MBNPA and DBAN were included in the evaluations because they were the primary components contributing to the toxicity of DBNPA, with 96‐h LC50 values of 1.8, 3.4 and 0.55 mg/L, respectively. Analyses of the degradation and toxicity data confirmed the major role played by DBAN in the toxicity of initially applied DBNPA. They also suggested that in systems with nucleophilic activity, such as found in natural waters, there is a tendency to form more of the mono‐ and debrominated degradation products and fewer of the dibrominated degradation products, thus reducing the toxicity of initially introduced DBNPA.