The acute toxicity of cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn) to white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) was determined for seven developmental early life stages in flow-through wateronly exposures. Test waters consisted of five concentrations of each metal and a control. Nominal concentrations ranged from 0.01-600 micrograms per liter (µg/L) for cadmium, 0.1-300 µg/L for copper, and 0.4-10,000 µg/L for zinc, with higher exposure concentrations tested with older life stages. Exposures were performed in a water with a hardness of about 100 milligram per liters (mg/L) (as calcium chloride (CaCO 3)) and dissolved organic carbon of about 0.4 mg/L. Sturgeon were tested at 2, 16, 30, 44, 61, 72, and 89 dayspost-hatch (dph) and trout were tested at 1, 18, 32, 46, 60, 74, and 95 dph. Metal toxicity varied by species and by life stage. The 50-percent lethal concentrations (LC50) were based on mortality; whereas 50-percent effect concentrations (EC50s) were based on mortality, loss of equilibrium, and immobilization. The EC50s were used in comparisons with nationally recommended water-quality criteria (WQC) or to Washington State water-quality standards (WQS). Test acceptability requirement of greater than or equal to (≥)90 percent control survival was achieved in all exposures with the exception of 16-dph sturgeon exposures where control survival was 65 to 80 percent (hence, the EC50 for 16-dph sturgeon was classified as nondefinitive effect concentrations); however, despite the low control survival, the reductions in the survival of exposed 16-dph sturgeon were concentration dependent. Rainbow trout were more sensitive to cadmium than sturgeon across all life stages with LC50s ranging from 2.77 to greater than (>)49.4 micrograms cadmium per liter (µg Cd/L) with sensitivity remaining consistent during later stages of development (18-95 dph). Sturgeon LC50s for cadmium ranged from >47.2 to >355 µg Cd/L with sensitivity increasing during later stages of development (30-89 dph). The LC50 endpoint 6 Acute and Chronic Sensitivity of White Sturgeon and Rainbow Trout to Cadmium, Copper, Lead, or Zinc State WQS. For sturgeon aged 2 dph, the EC50 was below the WQC for copper and was below the Washington State WQS for all life stages tested. Although classified a nondefinitive effect concentration because of elevated 4-d control mortality, the EC50 for sturgeon at age 16 dph also fell below the WQC and Washington State WQS for copper. Sturgeon at 2 dph was the only life stage where the EC50 essentially was equal to the WQC and fell below the Washington State WQS for zinc. Results of this study will be submitted for consideration as part of a baseline ecological risk assessment being performed at the upper Columbia River in eastern Washington State.
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