The development of uranium mines has been necessary to obtain abundant and scarce uranium resources, but they also bring inevitable radioactive contamination to the surrounding soil, rivers and lakes. This paper explores the sensitivity of Cypridopsis vidua to the radioactive element uranium and the heavy elements cadmium and copper with single and combined acute toxicity experiments and combined toxicity model predictions. The results from the single toxicity experiments showed that the degree of toxic effects was cadmium > copper > uranium. The combined toxicity experiments showed that the compound toxicity of U-Cd and U-Cu was higher than the weakest component and lower than the strongest component, whereas the compound toxicity of Cd-Cu was higher than either of its components. When the overall proportion of a more toxic metal was increased, its mixed toxicity also increased, and vice versa. Combined toxicity predictions showed that the U-Cd combination was best described by the concentration additive (CA) model, the independent action (IA) model was more applicable to the Cd-Cu combination, and the most applicable model for the U-Cu combination changed depending on the concentration gradient. The acute toxicity data from this study provide a reference for the development of wastewater discharge standards for uranium mines, enriches the data related to the toxicity of uranium for ostracods and deepens the understanding of the threat of uranium pollution to aquatic ecosystems.

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In this paper, we concentrate on the acute toxic effects of uranium on two aquatic organisms, Brachydanio rerio (B. rerio) and Cypridopsis vidua (C. vidua). We found that the toxicity of uranium on C. vidua was significantly greater than that of B. rerio. The results show that C. vidua has a higher sensitivity to uranium, even better than the commonly used test model organisms. In addition to its high sensitivity, C. vidua is a simple and cost-effective toxicological test organism. Therefore, C. vidua is an attractive alternative biological detection material. The acute toxicity results of the test are valuable for establishing water quality standards and protecting human health. At the same time, it enriches the relevant data of uranium on biological toxicity, provides clues for the study of the mechanism of toxicity, and deepens the understanding of the harm of uranium pollution to aquatic ecosystems.