FISH AND DAPHNIA TOXICITY AS SURROGATES FOR AQUATIC VASCULAR PLANTS AND ALGAE

The relative degree of acute toxicity of thousands of chemicals of heterogeneous structures was compared for fishes, daphnids, aquatic vascular plants, and algae. Aquatic animals were more sensitive indicators of toxic effects than were plants or algae. Compounds that were toxic at under 1 ppm for daphnids, fishes, aquatic vascular plants, and algae represented 2.4,1.3, 0.12, and 0.02%, respectively, of the total tested for each of these four groups of organisms. Of the 27 781 chemicals tested on aquatic plants and 49 082 tested on the alga Chlorella, all but 3 compounds were either not toxic to these organisms under 1 mg/L, or were toxic to fish and Daphnia at 1 ppm or less. © 1979, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.