Lowell H. Bahner

Toxicity of textile mill effluents to freshwater and estuarine algae, crustaceans and fishes☆

Abstract The toxicity of secondary waste effluents from textile manufacturing plants was determined with freshwater (Selenastrum capricornutum, Daphnia pulex, Pimephales promelus) and estuarine Skeletonema costatum2, Palaemonetes pugio, Cyprinodon variegatus) organisms. Daphnia pulex was generally the most sensitive animal, but no animal responded to all wastes. Growth of the algae S. capricornutum and S. costatum was affected by all wastes, through either inhibition or stimulation. Some wastes were stimulatory to S. costatum at low concentrations ( 50%). The concentration of waste that stimulated growth of S. costatum by 20% compared with controls (SC 20 ) was calculated and used with EC 50 values for the survival of D. pulex to estimate the potential impact of the wastes in relation to volume of discharge.

Kepone® bioconcentration, accumulation, loss, and transfer through estuarine food chains

Accumulation, transfer, and loss of Kepone in estuarine organisms were studied in laboratory bioassays. Kepone was bioconcentrated by oysters (Crassostrea virginica), mysids (Mysidopsis bahia), grass shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio), sheepshead minnows (Cyprinodon variegatus), and spot (Leiostomus xanthurus), from concentrations as low as 0.023 μg/l seawater. Bioconcentration factors ranged from 10 to 340 in static exposures and 900 to 13,500 in flow-through bioassays, and were dependent on species and exposure duration.

Mysidopsis bahia : An Estuarine Species Suitable for Life-Cycle Toxicity Tests to Determine the Effects of a Pollutant

This study documents the successful use of a mysid, Mysidopsis bahia, for life-cycle toxicity tests. These tests were conducted to determine acute and chronic toxicities of metal (cadmium) and pesticide (Kepone). Delay inthe formation of mysid brood pouches and release of young were noted in low concentrations ≤6.4 μg cadmium/litre. Fewer young produced per female and decreased growth were other indicators of effects of Kepone.

METALS, PESTICIDES AND PCBs: TOXICITIES TO SHRIMP SINGLY AND IN COMBINATION

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to assess potential deleterious effects of certain toxicants, singly and in combination, to penaeid shrimp. In nature, these shrimp are exposed to combinations of toxicants from industrial and municipal outfalls, from agricultural runoff or from dredge-and-fill operations. The combined toxicities of methoxychlor and cadmium to penaeid shrimp, Penaeus duorarum, were either independent or additive, and varied with the method(s) of bioassay. Conclusions were based on the results of 10-, 25- and 30-day bioassays conducted with the toxicants added singly or in combination to flowing water of constant salinity and temperature. Cadmium, but not methoxychlor, was accumulated by shrimp and methoxychlor appears to influence the processes of accumulation or loss of cadmium from tissues of shrimp.

A Salinity Controller for Flow-through Bioassays

Abstract An electro-mechanical device has been constructed to monitor and dilute seawater to a constant salinity for flowing-water bioassays. It has been used successfully in pesticide bioassays and requires little maintenance.