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Ecotoxicological information

Long-term toxicity to fish

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Link to relevant study record(s)

Reference
Endpoint:
fish, juvenile growth test
Type of information:
experimental study
Adequacy of study:
weight of evidence
Study period:
2004
Reliability:
2 (reliable with restrictions)
Rationale for reliability incl. deficiencies:
test procedure in accordance with generally accepted scientific standards and described in sufficient detail
Reason / purpose for cross-reference:
reference to same study
Reason / purpose for cross-reference:
reference to same study
Reason / purpose for cross-reference:
reference to same study
Qualifier:
equivalent or similar to guideline
Guideline:
OECD Guideline 215 (Fish, Juvenile Growth Test)
Deviations:
not specified
GLP compliance:
not specified
Analytical monitoring:
yes
Details on sampling:
Samples of natural surface waters were taken at eight locations, five in The Netherlands, two in Belgium, and one in France. Samples for toxicity assays with different organisms were taken on various occasions. Two sampling techniques were used. The first technique consisted of taking a 50-L sample of natural water in acid-washed (0.14 N HNO3) polyethylene vessels. Upon arrival in the laboratory, the sample was filtered (0.45 mm; Gelman Science, Ann Arbor, MI, USA) and stored at 4°C in the dark until use. This technique was used for all toxicity tests with D. magna and for two tests with P. subcapitata. The second technique consisted of concentrating in situ approximately 1,000 L of water to a volume of approximately 20 L using reverse osmosis. This technique was used for all tests with rainbow trout and six tests with P. subcapitata. The technique was considered the most practical in order to obtain the large quantities of water needed for the chronic tests with rainbow trout. Upon arrival in the laboratory, the sample was stored at 4°C in darkness. In order to use the sample for testing, the concentrated sample was diluted with deionized water to obtain the DOC concentration originally present in the natural surface water. As Ca and Mg were replaced with Na during the reverse osmosis process, the Ca and Mg concentrations of the diluted sample were readjusted to obtain the Ca and Mg levels measured in the original water sample using reagent-grade CaCl2 or MgCl2. We have previously demonstrated that this method yields very similar water chemistry in the reconstituted water as compared with the original water. Furthermore, tests with diluted reverse-osmosis concentrates and original water have been demonstrated to yield identical copper and zinc toxicity to D. magna and P. subcapitata.
Vehicle:
no
Test organisms (species):
Oncorhynchus mykiss (previous name: Salmo gairdneri)
Details on test organisms:
Juvenile Oncorhynchus mykiss were used for the test. Feeding at an amount of 4% of fish wet weight/day was provided during the test (commercial fish food).
Test type:
flow-through
Water media type:
freshwater
Limit test:
no
Total exposure duration:
30 d
Test temperature:
15°C
pH:
6.15 - 8.13
Dissolved oxygen:
>90% saturation
Details on test conditions:
TEST SYSTEM
- Test vessel: 5-L polyethylene aquaria
- fill volume: 3 L
- Aeration: yes
- Renewal rate of test solution (frequency/flow rate): 2 L/g/d
- No. of organisms per vessel: 5
- No. of vessels per concentration (replicates): 3

TEST MEDIUM / WATER PARAMETERS
- Source/preparation of dilution water: natural water (see sampling methods)
- Dissolved organic carbon: 2.84 - 22.9
- Chlorine: 10.4 - 158 mg/L
- Alkalinity: 1.7 - 68.5 CaCO3/L
- Intervals of water quality measurement: weekly, pH daily

OTHER TEST CONDITIONS
- Adjustment of pH: N-morpholinopropanesulfonic acid was added as a pH buffer
- Photoperiod: 12:12 (light:dark)
- Light intensity:

EFFECT PARAMETERS MEASURED (with observation intervals if applicable) :
30-d NOEC, 30-day LC10, 30-d LC50

VEHICLE CONTROL PERFORMED: no
Reference substance (positive control):
no
Duration:
30 d
Dose descriptor:
LC50
Remarks:
pH 7.76, DOC 22.9 mg/L, Ca 32 mg/L
Effect conc.:
1 970 µg/L
Nominal / measured:
meas. (initial)
Conc. based on:
element (dissolved fraction)
Basis for effect:
mortality
Duration:
30 d
Dose descriptor:
LC50
Remarks:
pH 7.08, DOC 2.84 mg/L, Ca 8.05 mg/L
Effect conc.:
337 µg/L
Nominal / measured:
meas. (initial)
Conc. based on:
element (dissolved fraction)
Basis for effect:
mortality
Duration:
30 d
Dose descriptor:
NOEC
Remarks:
pH 7.08, DOC 2.84 mg/L, Ca 8.05 mg/L
Effect conc.:
199 µg/L
Nominal / measured:
meas. (initial)
Conc. based on:
element (dissolved fraction)
Basis for effect:
mortality
Duration:
30 d
Dose descriptor:
NOEC
Remarks:
pH 7.76, DOC 22.9 mg/L, Ca 32 mg/L
Effect conc.:
771 µg/L
Nominal / measured:
meas. (initial)
Conc. based on:
element (dissolved fraction)
Basis for effect:
mortality
Details on results:
A large variation of physico-chemical characteristics important for zinc bioavailability was observed in the tested waters, i.e., DOC between 2.48 and 22.9 mg/L, pH between 5.7 and 8.4, Ca between 1.51 and 80.2 mg/L, Mg between 0.79 and 18.4 mg/L, and Na between 3.8 and 116 mg/L. For O. mykiss, chronic toxicity in natural waters varied about sixfold, as indicated by 30-d EC10s (between 185 and 902 mg Zn/L) and 30-d EC50s (between 337 and 1,970 mg Zn/L). The 30-d NOECs ranged from 199 to 771 mg Zn/L.

DOC

the percentage of Zn calculated to be bound to DOC in natural waters varied between 5 and 89%. A general pattern is that, at lower Zn concentrations, more Zn tends to be complexed to DOC.

Alkalinity

ZnCO3 accounted in some cases for more than 10% of the dissolved zinc, notably in those test waters with the highest levels of alkalinity and pH.

Conclusions:
Both inorganic and organic Zn complexation reduces Zn2+ activity and thus also reduce toxicity. Inorganic complexation (i. e. ZnCO3) is relatively straightforward, while dissolved organic matter (DOM) vary much in their zinc-binding characteristics. Therefore, for unknown samples, it is suggested to assume that the DOM consists of a fixed fraction of chemically active fulvic acid, i.e., 61%, which is the mean of optimal %AFA of the five abovementioned samples with which Zn titration studies were performed. The 30 -d LC50 ranges from 337 to 1970 mg Zn/L, the NOEC (30 d) ranges from 1.26 to 4.87 mg/L.
Executive summary:

Zinc toxicity to O. mykiss was evaluated in a series of experiments with spiked natural surface waters. The eight selected freshwater samples had varying levels of bioavailability modifying parameters: pH (5.7–8.4), dissolved organic carbon (DOC, 2.48–22.9 mg/L), Ca (1.5–80 mg/L), Mg (0.79–18 mg/L), and Na (3.8–120 mg/L). In those waters, chronic zinc toxicity (expressed as 50% lethal concentrations [LC50]) varied up to 6 -fold for the O. mykiss (30 -d LC50 from 337 to 1970 mg Zn/L, NOEC (30 d) ranges from 1.26 to 4.87 mg/L).

Both inorganic and organic Zn complexation reduces Zn2+ activity and thus also reduce toxicity. Inorganic complexation (i. e. ZnCO3) is relatively straightforward, while dissolved organic matter (DOM) vary much in their zinc-binding characteristics. Therefore, for unknown samples, it is suggested to assume that the DOM consists of a fixed fraction of chemically active fulvic acid, i.e., 61%, which is the mean of optimal %AFA of the five abovementioned samples with which Zn titration studies were performed.

Description of key information

There is no data available for the target substance zinc glucoheptonate on long-term toxicity towards fish. However, there is data available for different zinc compounds. Since the ecotoxicity of zinc glucoheptonate is driven by zinc ion, this data is used within a frame of a weight-of-evidence approach to assess the toxicity of zinc glucoheptonate. Therefore, the chronic effect-concentrations of zinc on O. mykiss found in literature were converted to the target substance ZnGHA under consideration of the molecular weight and the purity.

De Schamphelaere et al., 2005

Zinc toxicity to O. mykiss was evaluated in a series of experiments with spiked natural surface waters. The eight selected freshwater samples had varying levels of bioavailability modifying parameters: pH (5.7–8.4), dissolved organic carbon (DOC, 2.48–22.9 mg/L), Ca (1.5–80 mg/L), Mg (0.79–18 mg/L), and Na (3.8–120 mg/L). In those waters, chronic zinc toxicity (expressed as 50% lethal concentrations [LC50]) varied up to 6-fold forO. mykiss (30-d LC50 from 337 to 1970 mg Zn/L; 2.13 – 12.43 mg ZnGHA/L, the NOEC ranges from 1.26 to 4.87 mg ZnGHA/L). Both inorganic and organic Zn complexation reduces Zn2+ activity and thus also reduces toxicity. Inorganic complexation (i. e. ZnCO3) is relatively straightforward, while dissolved organic matter (DOM) vary much in their zinc-binding characteristics.

Sinley et al., 2005

Chronic flow-through bioassays, in which exposure data collected over at least one generation of the test organism were used to evaluate the effects of zinc onO. mykissthroughout its life cycle. The results of these bioassays are expressed as "maximum acceptable toxicant concentrations" (MATC's). Well water (hardness: 330 mg/liter as CaCO3) was used for the hard water experiments and dechlorinated tap water (hardness: 25 mg/L as CaCO3). The chronic toxicity of zinc toO. mykissdecreases as water hardness increases. The MATC obtained in hard water is with 320 - 640 µg Zn/L (2.02 – 4.04 mg ZnGHA/L) approximately two-and-one-half times the MATC obtained in soft water (140 – 260 µg Zn/L; 0.88 – 1.64 mg ZnGHA/L).In addition, there is evidence, that fish not exposed to zinc as eggs may be as much as four times more susceptible to zinc than fish exposed to zinc as eggs. It is possible therefore that an MATC for zinc in hard water may be higher than the one reported here if exposure had begun with eggs rather than fry. Obviously, fish which have been exposed to zinc as eggs are more resistant than fish which have not been exposed to zinc as eggs. Fish not exposed to zinc as eggs may be as much as four times more susceptible to zinc than fish exposed to zinc as eggs. It is possible therefore that an MATC for zinc in hard water may be higher than the one reported here if exposure had begun with eggs rather than fry.

Conclusion

The LC50 (30 d)-values for O. mykiss converted to ZnGHA range between 2.13 and 12.43 mg ZnGHA/L and the NOEC (30 d) lies between 1.26 and 4.87 mg/L. This difference is caused by the protective impact of increased Ca and DOC concentration (De Schamphelaere et al., 2005). In addition, water hardness was found to reduce zinc toxicity (Sinley et al., 1974). Besides, it was shown, that fish not exposed to zinc as eggs may be as much as four times more susceptible to zinc than fish exposed to zinc as eggs (Sinley et al., 1974).

Table 1: Effect concentration (EC)-values from studies performed with elemental zinc (Zn2+) converted to ZnGHA under consideration of the molecular weight and the purity.

Species

Duration of exposure

Dose descriptor

Basis for effect

elemental Zn in source substance [mg/L]

Zn GHA (75 %) [mg/L]

Impact

Reference

O. mykiss

30d

LC50

mortality

1.97

12.43

pH 7.76, DOC 22.9 mg/L, Ca 32 mg/L

De Schamphelaere et al., 2005

 

O. mykiss

30d

LC50

mortality

0.337

2.13

pH 7.08, DOC 2.84 mg/L, Ca 8.05 mg/L

 

O. mykiss

30d

NOEC

mortality

0.199

1.26

pH 7.08, DOC 2.84 mg/L, Ca 8.05 mg/L

 

O. mykiss

30d

NOEC

mortality

0.771

4.87

pH 7.76, DOC 22.9 mg/L, Ca 32 mg/L

 

O. mykiss

22 months

MATC

mortality

0.32 – 0.64

2.02 – 4.04

hard water (330 mg CaCO3/L)

Sinley et al., 1974

O. mykiss

22 months

MATC

mortality

0.14 – 0.26

0.88 – 1.64

soft water (25 mg CaCO3/L)

 

 

Key value for chemical safety assessment

Fresh water fish

Fresh water fish
Effect concentration:
1.26 mg/L

Additional information