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Source of toxicity in storm water: Zinc from commonly used paint
Author(s) -
Kszos Lynn Adams,
Morris Gail W.,
Konetsky Belinda K.
Publication year - 2004
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 - 10.1897/02-391
Subject(s) - environmental science , zinc , toxicity , storm , environmental chemistry , zinc toxicity , chemistry , geology , oceanography , organic chemistry
A Department of Energy site in Paducah, Kentucky (USA), stores thousands of cylinders of depleted uranium hexa‐fluoride. Breaches of the cylinders could result in the release of uranium and hydrogen fluoride. Beginning in 1996, a program was begun to paint the cylinders in order to prevent corrosion of the cylinders and the surfaces of the storage yards were converted to concrete. In 1998, storm water from the cylinder storage yards was found to be toxic to Ceriodaphnia , at concentrations exceeding limits in the site's discharge permit. A six‐month study was conducted to identify the source of the toxicity in the storm water. Ceriodaphnia toxicity tests with the storm water resulted in 48‐h median lethal concentrations (LC50) ranging from 12 to 94%; zinc concentrations in the storm water ranged from 0.08 to 0.54 mg/L. Acute toxicity tests with zinc and linear regression identified that zinc concentrations in the storm water were sufficient to account for the toxicity observed. By tracking the sources to the discharge point, newly painted cylinders were identified as the source of the zinc in the storm water. Rainwater collected directly from the painted cylinders contained up to 13 mg Zn/L. Laboratory and field tests showed that topcoating the cylinders would reduce the amount of zinc in the runoff from the cylinders.