Effects of ammonia on juvenile unionid mussels (Lampsilis cardium) in laboratory sediment toxicity tests

Abstract

Ammonia is a relatively toxic compound generated in water and sediments by heterotrophic bacteria and accumulates in sediments and pore water. Recent data suggest that unionid mussels are sensitive to un-ionized ammonia (NH3) relative to other organisms. Existing sediment exposure systems are not suitable for ammonia toxicity studies with juvenile unionids; thus, we modified a system to expose juveniles to ammonia that was continuously infused into sediments. This system maintained consistent concentrations of ammonia in pore water up to 10 d. Juvenile Lampsilis cardium mussels were exposed to NH3 in pore water in replicate 96-h and 10-d sediment toxicity tests. The 96-h median lethal concentrations (LC50s) were 127 and 165 microg NH3-N/L, and the 10-d LC50s were 93 and 140 microg NH3-N/L. The median effective concentrations (EC50s) (based on the proportion affected, including dead and inactive mussels) were 73 and 119 microg NH3-N/L in the 96-h tests and 71 and 99 microg NH3-N/L in the 10-d tests. Growth rate was substantially reduced at concentrations between 31 and 76 microg NH3-N/L. The lethality results (when expressed as total ammonia) are about one-half the acute national water quality criteria for total ammonia, suggesting that existing criteria may not protect juvenile unionids.

Ameliorating Effect of Chloride on Nitrite Toxicity to Freshwater Invertebrates with Different Physiology: a Comparative Study Between Amphipods and Planarians

“…In both bioassays, two parameters were monitored every 24 h over a period of 7 days: the proportion of dead invertebrates and the proportion of affected individuals (i.e., dead plus inactive invertebrates) (Newton et al 2003;Alonso and Camargo 2006b). An amphipod was considered dead when neither swimming displacement nor movement of any body part were observed after touching the animal with a glass stick, and inactive when no swimming displacement was observed but some body part was active (such as pleopods, uropods, antenna, or gills).…”

Long-Term Effects of Ammonia on the Behavioral Activity of the Aquatic Snail Potamopyrgus antipodarum (Hydrobiidae, Mollusca)

“…This high tolerance to lethal effects of nonionized ammonia is corroborated when our results are compared with the short-term effects of nonionized ammonia on other aquatic invertebrates. A concentration of 0.09 (0.06-0.18) mg/L N-NH 3 caused the death of 50% of the population of the mollusk Lampsilis cardium after 10 days (Newton et al 2003). Two days of exposure to the same concentration caused mortality to the crustacean Paracalliope fluviatilis (Hickey and Vickers 1994).…”

“…Two days of exposure to the same concentration caused mortality to the crustacean Paracalliope fluviatilis (Hickey and Vickers 1994). Nonionized ammonia concentrations ranging from 0.10 to 0.23 mg/L N-NH 3 caused mortality after 4 days to three species of mollusks (Lampsilis fasciola, L. cardium, and Villosa iris) (Mummert et al 2003;Newton et al 2003). Ammonia also affected the activity of the planarian Polycelis felina, with an EC 10 4-day value of 0.14 (0.11-0.16) mg/L N-NH 3 .…”

“…The water quality criteria for nonionized ammonia reported for several aquatic fauna ranged from 0.01 to 0.10 mg N-NH 3 /L (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1986Agency , 1999Environment Canada 2001;Alonso 2005;Camargo and Alonso 2006;Passel et al 2007). Although these criteria have been developed on the basis of different situations (e.g., pH and temperature, ecosystems) and animal groups (e.g., fish and invertebrates), the highest values may not be protective enough for some freshwater macroinvertebrates, as ammonia is highly toxic to this group of animals, especially for mollusks in the Unionidae family (Newton et al 2003). For P. antipodarum, long-term and subchronic exposures to nonionized ammonia concentrations from 0.05 to 0.13 mg N-NH 3 /L affected behavioral activity (Alonso and Camargo 2004a;present study), showing that the NOEC of freshwater macroinvertebrates must be lower than 0.05 mg N-NH 3 /L to avoid behavioral effects.…”

The Freshwater Mussels (Unionidae) of Twin Creek, Southwest Ohio

“…The levels of ammonia observed during high and low flows were below both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards as well as more stringent standards suggested necessary to safeguard juvenile mussels (Augspurger et al 2003, Newton et al 2003. However, permit violations for Twin Creek recorded in the 1995 study (OEPA 1997) suggest that rare events from point-source pollution may be sufficient to kill adult and juvenile mussels.…”