COMPARISON OF COPPER, LEAD AND ZINC TOXICITY TO FOUR ANIMAL SPECIES IN LABORATORY AND ST. LOUIS RIVER WATER

Abstract

A study was conducted to compare the toxicities of copper, lead and zinc in laboratory water with their respective toxicities in water from the St. Louis River. St. Louis River water was collected upstream of major municipal and industrial discharges at a site considered to be undisturbed by such inputs. Static acute toxicity tests were simultaneously run in the two waters using rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri), fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas), scuds (Gammarus pseudolimnaeus) and daphnids (Daphnia magna) as test organisms.