Chronic toxicity of lead to three freshwater invertebrates—Brachionus calyciflorus, Chironomus tentans, and Lymnaea stagnalis

Abstract

Chronic lead (Pb) toxicity tests with Brachionus calyciflorus, Chironomus tentans, and Lymnaea stagnalis were performed in artificial freshwaters. The no-observable-effect concentration (NOEC), lowest-observable-effect concentration (LOEC), and calculated 20% effect concentration (EC20) for the rotifer B. calyciflorus were 194, 284, and 125 microg dissolved Pb/L, respectively. The midge C. tentans was less sensitive, with NOEC and LOEC of 109 and 497 microg dissolved Pb/L, respectively, and the snail L. stagnalis exhibited extreme sensitivity, evident by NOEC, LOEC, and EC20 of 12, 16, and < 4 microg dissolved Pb/L, respectively. Our findings are presented in the context of other reports on chronic Pb toxicity in freshwater organisms. The L. stagnalis results are in agreement with a previous report on pulmonate snails and should be viewed in the context of current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) hardness adjusted water quality criteria of 8 microg Pb/L. The present findings and earlier reports indicate that freshwater pulmonate snails may not be protected by current regulatory standards. Measurements of whole-snail Na+ and Ca2+ concentrations following chronic Pb exposure revealed that Na+ homeostasis is disturbed by Pb exposure in juvenile snails in a complicated pattern, suggesting two physiological modes of action depending on the Pb exposure concentration. Substantially reduced growth in the snails that exhibit very high Ca2+ requirements may be related to reduced Ca2+ uptake and thereby reduced shell formation.

Sensitivity of early life stages of freshwater mussels (Unionidae) to acute and chronic toxicity of lead, cadmium, and zinc in water

“…Freshwater pulmonate snails of the genus Lymnaea are very sensitive to chronic Pb exposure [36]. The Pb GMCV for the mussel Lamspilis (10 mg Pb/L) was even lower than the GMCV for the snail Lymnaea (18 mg Pb/L; GLEC, unpublished data), becoming the lowest GMCV (Fig.…”

Chronic toxicity of aluminum, at a pH of 6, to freshwater organisms: Empirical data for the development of international regulatory standards/criteria

“…study was a life-cycle test performed according to methodology that has been developed and reported in the scientific literature [26] and used in the derivation of water quality criteria for cadmium [27]. The B. calyciflorus and L. stagnalis studies were performed using methods as described in the literature [28,29]. Details regarding each test method are reported in Table 1.…”

Developing Acute-to-chronic Toxicity Ratios for Lead, Cadmium, and Zinc using Rainbow Trout, a Mayfly, and a Midge

“…Although SSDs and chronic criteria have been derived directly from chronic data (e.g., EPA 1999; Grosell et al 2006a;Mebane 2006;Van Sprang et al 2004), because much fewer chronic data are available than acute data, in practice ACRs have been most commonly used to estimate the chronic sensitivity of untested species and derive chronic criteria in the USA (Mount et al 2003;Raimondo et al 2007;.…”