Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

An Avoidance Response Bioassay For Aquatic Pollutants, Jeffrey A. Black, Wesley J. Birge

KWRRI Research Reports

Avoidance response bioassays were conducted with eight aquatic contaminants, including cadmium, copper, mercury, zinc, chloroform, dioctyl phthalate (DOP), trisodium nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), and phenol. Tests were performed in a dual-channel fluviarium system, and the toxicant injection procedure used provided good regulation of exposure concentrations. Juvenile stages of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus), and rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri), and tadpoles of the American toad (Bufo americanus) proved to be suitable animals for evaluating avoidance or attraction responses. The trout was the most sensitive species tested.

Avoidance was significant in tests …

Effects Of Organic Compounds On Amphibian Reproduction, Wesley J. Birge, Jeffrey A. Black, Robert A. Kuehne

KWRRI Research Reports

Aquatic toxicity tests were conducted with atrazine, carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, methylene chloride, trisodium nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), and phenol. Each compound was administered to developmental stages of three to five amphibian species. Exposure was initiated at fertilization and maintained through 4 days posthatching. Test responses included lethality and teratogenesis. Different amphibian species exhibited varying degrees of tolerance to the selected compounds. Greatest tolerance usually was observed for the more broadly adapted semi-aquatic and terrestrial species (e.g., Bufo americanus, Bufo fowleri). The more sensitive amphibians usually included those species which normally are restricted to aquatic or moist habitats (e.g., Rana …