ASSESSING ACUTE TOXICITIES OF PRETREATMENT AND POSTTREATMENT INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATERS WITH HYDRA-ATTENUATA - A COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF ACUTE TOXICITY WITH THE FATHEAD MINNOW, PIMEPHALES-PROMELAS
Lj. Fu et al., ASSESSING ACUTE TOXICITIES OF PRETREATMENT AND POSTTREATMENT INDUSTRIAL WASTEWATERS WITH HYDRA-ATTENUATA - A COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF ACUTE TOXICITY WITH THE FATHEAD MINNOW, PIMEPHALES-PROMELAS, Environmental toxicology and chemistry, 13(4), 1994, pp. 563-569
This study was undertaken to (a) determine wastewater treatment effect
iveness using two freshwater organisms, (b) compare acute toxicity res
ults from the two species exposed to the wastewaters, and (c) link acu
te and potential developmental toxicity of wastewaters in one organism
. The acute toxicities of several pretreatment and post-treatment indu
strial waste-water samples were evaluated with adult Hydra attenuata (
92- or 96-h exposure) and fathead minnows (96-h exposure). The acute L
C50s agreed closely when results in Hydra attenuata were compared with
those from fathead minnow tests. Acute LC50s ranged from 3 to > 100%
of sample with hydra, and from 1.0 to > 100% of sample with fathead mi
nnows. The results provided strong evidence of treatment effectiveness
because toxicity decreased with progressive stages of treatment. Prev
iously the Hydra Developmental Toxicity Assay (Hydra Assay) was used a
s a prescreen mainly for in vitro assessment of developmental toxicity
with pure compounds and to prioritize toxicants according to selectiv
e toxicity to the developing embryo (A/D ratio). Recently we modified
the assay for testing natural waters and wastewaters; hence, some of t
he wastewater samples also were tested for their developmental toxicit
y. In this case, the relative selective toxicity (A/D ratio) of these
wastewater samples ranged from 0.7 to 2.1, indicating that no sample w
as uniquely toxic to the developing embryo, although acute toxicity wa
s manifested. Overall, our results indicate the Hydra Assay functions
appropriately in assessments of acute and developmental toxicity of in
dustrial wastewaters and may be a simple and useful tool in a battery
of tests for broader scale detection of environmental hazards.