TOXICITY AND METABOLISM STUDIES WITH EPA PRIORITY POLLUTANTS AND RELATED CHEMICALS IN FRESHWATER ORGANISMS

Abstract

Twenty-two chemicals from the EPA priority pollutant list were studied for their acute and/or chronic toxicity to selected freshwater organisms. These included 1,2-dichloroethane, 1,1,2-trichloroethane, 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane, tetrachloroethylene, 1,2-dichlorobenzene, 1,3-dichlorobenzene, 1,4-dichloro­-benzene, hexachlorobenzene, hexachlorobutadiene, di-n_-butylphthalate, penta­-chloropbenol, heptachlor, chlordane, toxaphene, arsenic+3,chromium+6,lead+2, mercury+2 nicke1+2,silver+1,selenium+4,and cyanide. Freshwater species tested included the fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas), rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri), bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus), flagfish (Jordanella floridae1, water flea (Daphnia magnal), scud (Gammarus pseudolimnaeus), midge (Tanytarsus dissimilis), and green alga (Selenastrum capricornutum). Toxicity tests were also conducted with pentachloroethane, hexachloroethane, 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene, pentachlorobenzene, dimethylformamide and methanol. Di-!!_-butylphthalate. uptake from water, elimination and metabolism by fish was studied. A comparison was made of the metabolism and binding of carbon tetra­ chloride, chloroform, 1,1,2-trichloroethane, l,1,2-trichloroethylene and monochlorobenzene by microsomal fractions of rainbow trout livers and of daphnid whole bodies.