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Toxicity of Trihalomethanes to Common Carp Embryos
Author(s) -
Mattice J. S.,
Tsai S. C.,
Burch M. B.,
Beauchamp J. J.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1981)110<261:tottcc>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - bromoform , trihalomethane , chemistry , environmental chemistry , chlorine , toxicant , effluent , toxicity , bioaccumulation , cyprinus , chloroform , toxicology , acute toxicity , pollutant , common carp , chromatography , environmental engineering , organic chemistry , biology , fishery , environmental science , fish <actinopterygii>
Trihalomethanes recently have been identified in real and simulated effluents from power plants where chlorine is used for biofouling control. Toxicity of the four chlorine‐ or bromine‐containing trihalomethanes (chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane, and bromoform) to developing common carp (Cyprinus carpio) embryos was determined under conditions of intermittent (8‐hour) toxicant renewal, based on percent hatch as the end point. Nominal median lethal concentrations (LC50) ranged from 161 mg/liter for chloroform to 53 mg/liter for dibromochloromethane. Decay studies conducted under conditions similar to those used for the toxicity studies, but in distilled water, indicated that (1) half‐lives of the trihalomethanes ranged from 4.4 to 6.9 hours; (2) decay was due primarily to volatilization; (3) higher relative toxicity of dibromochloromethane probably was due to formation of a degradation product (likely Br 2 ). Correction of the nominal LC50 values to time‐weighted mean concentrations over the period between toxicant changes gave weighted LC50 values of 97.2, 67.4, 33.5, and 52.3 mg/liter for chloroform, bromodichloromethane, dibromochloromethane, and bromoform, respectively. In addition, the period of water‐hardening of fertilized eggs was not critical for expression of toxicity of dibromochloromethane. Comparison of these and other published data on effluent and toxic concentrations, persistence, and bioaccumulation of water‐chlorination products suggests that trihalomethanes are not as environmentally critical as other chlorinated organic compounds or residual chlorine.