Evaluation of chronic toxicity of sodium chloride or potassium chloride to a unionid mussel (Lampsilis siliquoidea) in water exposures using standard and refined toxicity testing methods

Abstract

Freshwater mussels are generally underrepresented in toxicity databases used to derive water quality criteria, especially for long-term exposures. Multiple tests were conducted to determine the chronic toxicity of sodium chloride (NaCl) or potassium chloride (KCl) to a unionid mussel (fatmucket, Lampsilis siliquoidea). Initially, a 4-wk NaCl test and a 4-wk KCl test were conducted starting with 2-mo-old mussels in water exposures with and without a thin layer of sand substrate. A feeding study was conducted later to refine test conditions for longer-term 12-wk exposures, and 3 chronic NaCl tests were then conducted following the refined method to assess the influence of test duration (4-12 wk) and age of organisms (starting age ∼1 wk to 2 mo) on mussel sensitivity. Biomass (total dry wt of surviving mussels in a replicate) was generally a more sensitive endpoint compared to survival and growth (length and dry wt). In the 4-wk NaCl or KCl test started with 2-mo-old juveniles, a 20% effect concentration (EC20) based on biomass (264 mg Cl/L from the NaCl test or 8.7 mg K/L from the KCl test) in the exposure with sand was 2-fold lower than the EC20 in the exposure without sand. The longer-term 12-wk NaCl tests started with the 1-wk-old and 2-mo-old juveniles were successfully completed under refined test conditions based on the feeding study, and younger juveniles were more sensitive to NaCl than older juveniles. The NaCl toxicity did not substantially change with extended exposure periods from 4 to 12 wk, although the 4-wk EC20s for biomass were slightly greater (up to 37%) than the 12-wk EC20s in the 2 longer-term exposures. Including the toxicity data from the present study into existing databases would rank fatmucket the most sensitive species to KCl and the second most sensitive species to NaCl for all freshwater organisms. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:3050-3062. Published 2018 Wiley Periodicals Inc. on behalf of SETAC. This article is a US government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.

Acute Toxicity of Sodium Chloride, Nitrates, Ortho-Phosphates, Cadmium, Arsenic and Aluminum for Juveniles of the Freshwater Pearl Mussel: Margaritifera Margaritifera (L.1758)

“…A previous study on the unionid mussel (Lampsilis siliquoidea) in 28-day chronic toxicity tests to ammonia, conducted with soil substrate ranging in size of 300 to 500 µm and conducted without any, similarly found that the presence of a substrate did not influence the toxicant sensitivity of this freshwater mussel [46]. However, the same author conducted more recently another study based on the same experimental test on chronic toxicity to NaCl and potassium chloride (KCl) with silica sand (particle size of 100 to 400 µm) used as substrate and reported that EC20, based on biomass endpoint, in substrate presence, was twofold lower than without substrate [47]. This indicates that the mussel responses in the presence or absence of substrate might be dependent on the exposure duration and might differ according to the endpoint studied.…”

Forensic tracers of exposure to produced water in freshwater mussels: a preliminary assessment of Ba, Sr, and cyclic hydrocarbons

“…Both the short duration of the experiment and the use of a limited number of adult specimens for each exposure limits the conclusions that can be drawn regarding mortality rates (e.g., LC50 values). The influence of salt content or duration of exposure on mussel mortality could not be determined due to the similar mussel response in both the low and high dose treatments, but previous studies demonstrate the importance of both chloride and water hardness when assessing mortality [33][34][35]83,84 . Because our study utilized a relatively small number of individuals, a different genera, and adult mussels compared to previous studies, mortality rates were not thoroughly evaluated.…”

“…A limited number of studies have examined freshwater mussels exposed to high salinity water. Unionid mussels (Lampsilis Siliquoidea) exposed to elevated salinity in the form of high Cl concentrations from KCl and NaCl salts or synthetic inorganic mixtures that represent produced waters resulted in increased mortality and decreased growth [33][34][35] . In cages placed downstream of an oil and gas discharge, high mortality was observed in riffleshell mussels (Epioblasma torulosa rangiana) 36 .…”

Acute and Chronic Toxicity of Sodium Nitrate and Sodium Sulfate to Several Freshwater Organisms in Water‐Only Exposures

“…Replicate beakers in each diluter were held in a water bath at 23 ± 1 °C. Mussels were fed 2 mL of algal mixture (~510 nL cell volume/L) delivered by a peristaltic pump (Dosing Pump; Jiyang Aquarium Equipment) automatically into each replicate beaker with each cycling of diluter (Wang et al 2018a). The algal mixture was prepared daily by adding 1 mL of a commercial nonviable microalgal Nannochloropsis concentrate (Nanno 3600 TM ) and 2 mL of a mix of 6 microalgae (Shellfish Diet 1800 TM ; Reed Mariculture) into 1.8 L of test water.…”