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Chromate ion as a reference toxicant for aquatic phytotoxicity tests
Author(s) -
Wang Wuncheng
Publication year - 1987
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.5620061207
Subject(s) - toxicant , phytotoxicity , effluent , environmental chemistry , toxicology , sewage , environmental science , wastewater , aquatic toxicology , toxicity , chemistry , biology , environmental engineering , agronomy , organic chemistry
Abstract To conduct toxicity tests, it is essential to include controls to ascertain the health of the test organisms. The common practice is to include negative controls in every test. That positive controls are not used is perhaps because there is no consensus about the reference toxicant. The objective of this study was to test chromate ion as a candidate for reference toxicant. Two aquatic phytotoxicity tests were performed: a millet root elongation test and a duckweed test. To the same test species, the Cr(VI) toxic effect was very consistent in repeated experiments. The toxic effects to millet were nearly identical in both deionized water and sewage effluent samples. The toxic effect to duckweed was also highly repeatable in 59 water samples from 18 sample stations. The results suggest that the Cr(VI) ion can be used as a general reference toxicant in river water, lake water or wastewater samples. The concentration‐effect relationships, however, are different, depending on the test organisms.