Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons^™

An Industrial Chemical Used In Coal-Washing Influences Plankton Communities In Freshwater Microcosms, Danielle Turner

Honors College Theses

In 2014, 4-methylcyclohexane methanol (MCHM), an industrial chemical used to wash coal, contaminated drinking water in 300,000 homes in West Virginia, USA and raised concerns about toxicity to humans and freshwater ecosystems. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined that a concentration of 1 ppm was safe for human exposure. Despite the concern for human consumption, it is important to determine if MCHM has negative effects on aquatic organisms in contaminated water, particularly plankton communities that comprise the base of freshwater food webs. I exposed freshwater plankton communities in microcosms to 0, 0.5, 1 or 3 ppm MCHM under …