Acute toxicity of copper, ammonia, and chlorine to glochidia and juveniles of freshwater mussels (unionidae)

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to determine acute toxicity of copper, ammonia, or chlorine to larval (glochidia) and juvenile mussels using the recently published American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standard guide for conducting laboratory toxicity tests with freshwater mussels. Toxicity tests were conducted with glochidia (24- to 48-h exposures) and juveniles (96-h exposures) of up to 11 mussel species in reconstituted ASTM hard water using copper, ammonia, or chlorine as a toxicant. Copper and ammonia tests also were conducted with five commonly tested species, including cladocerans (Daphnia magna and Ceriodaphnia dubia; 48-h exposures), amphipod (Hyalella azteca; 48-h exposures), rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss; 96-h exposures), and fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas; 96-h exposures). Median effective concentrations (EC50s) for commonly tested species were >58 microg Cu/L (except 15 microg Cu/L for C. dubia) and >13 mg total ammonia N/L, whereas the EC50s for mussels in most cases were <45 microg Cu/L or <12 mg N/L and were often at or below the final acute values (FAVs) used to derive the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1996 acute water quality criterion (WQC) for copper and 1999 acute WQC for ammonia. However, the chlorine EC50s for mussels generally were >40 microg/L and above the FAV in the WQC for chlorine. The results indicate that the early life stages of mussels generally were more sensitive to copper and ammonia than other organisms and that, including mussel toxicity data in a revision to the WQC, would lower the WQC for copper or ammonia. Furthermore, including additional mussel data in 2007 WQC for copper based on biotic ligand model would further lower the WQC.

When and how? Freshwater mussel recolonization in Lake Orta

“…Even after the improvement of Lake Orta conditions and the neutralization of pH values accomplished by liming (1989)(1990), studies documenting the progressive recovery of both pelagic and benthic populations (Baudo et al, 2001a;Bielli and Tesauro, 2001;Nocentini et al, 2001) failed to reveal the presence of mussels or any other molluscs. Since mussels are highly sensitive to acidification (Økland and Økland, 1986;Taskinen et al, 2011), ammonia (Augspurger et al, 2003;Wang et al, 2008) and heavy metals (Naimo, 1995;Keller et al, 2006), particularly at the earlier life stages (Wang et al, 2007a(Wang et al, , 2007bCope et al, 2008;Cleawater et al, 2014), the high sediment toxicity, that did not improved but was rather worsened by liming, likely hindered recolonization. Furthermore, once extirpated from a water body, mussels are not able to recolonize easily, particularly if they lack access to restocking populations (Strayer et al, 2004), due to constraints related to their complex life cycle.…”

“…No data is available on sediment chemistry after 1996 ) when the area colonized was highly enriched in Cu (~2000 mg kg -1 ), Cr (~1000 mg kg -1 ), Pb (~500 mg kg -1 ) and Mn (~1500 mg kg -1 ) with pore water concentrations of Cu and Cr respectively of 0.63 and 0.10 (Guilizzoni et al 2001) the layer deposited between 1996 and 2001 (about 1 cm) was probably not sufficient to isolate organisms from the toxic layers underneath. Furthermore, juvenile mussels, which have higher sensitivity to toxicants than adults (Wang et al, 2007a(Wang et al, , 2007b regularly burrow deeper than 5 cm and even as deep as 20 cm (<3-cm size class; Schwalb and Pusch, 2007) becoming more exposed than adults to sediment bound contaminants (Yeager et al 1994). We must therefore conclude that Unio elongatulus was able to recolonize, although the sediments were still contaminated by metals with concentrations largely exceeding the level known to have acute and chronic effects on most freshwater mussel species (Wang et al, 2007a(Wang et al, , 2007bUS-EPA, 2007;Clearwater et al, 2014).…”

“…Furthermore, juvenile mussels, which have higher sensitivity to toxicants than adults (Wang et al, 2007a(Wang et al, , 2007b regularly burrow deeper than 5 cm and even as deep as 20 cm (<3-cm size class; Schwalb and Pusch, 2007) becoming more exposed than adults to sediment bound contaminants (Yeager et al 1994). We must therefore conclude that Unio elongatulus was able to recolonize, although the sediments were still contaminated by metals with concentrations largely exceeding the level known to have acute and chronic effects on most freshwater mussel species (Wang et al, 2007a(Wang et al, , 2007bUS-EPA, 2007;Clearwater et al, 2014). Improvement of the habitat quality provided a suitable condition for survival, but for freshwater mussels not only water and sediment quality are important.…”

Cumulative Spring Discharge and Survey Effort Influence Occupancy and Detection of a Threatened Freshwater Mussel, the Suwannee Moccasinshell

“…Ammonia levels in springs are typically lower than U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Aquatic Life Ambient Water Quality Criteria, but ammonia is usually present in most groundwater wells and springs tested Katz et al 2009;EPA 2013). Ammonia is extremely toxic to larval and juvenile freshwater mussels (Wang et al 2007), and may persist longer in springs than in other systems because of low dissolved oxygen and eutrophic conditions limiting bacterial nitrification (Haag 2012). In areas where spring water has limited opportunity to mix with atmospheric oxygen (e.g., short spring runs, midchannel springs), the potential exists for ammonia to reach levels toxic to juvenile freshwater mussels.…”

The effect of natural dissolved organic carbon on the acute toxicity of copper to larval freshwater mussels (glochidia)

“…Although the acute Cu sensitivity of glochidia has been assessed in a variety of mussel species [8,10,11], the diversity of the exposure water used in those studies was very limited. Typically, reconstituted waters have been used to determine an organism's sensitivity to a contaminant and, although such standardized waters are useful for comparing sensitivities among species and among studies, they do not necessarily reflect the complexity of the water found in an organism's natural habitat.…”