Disodium hydrogenorthophosphate

Toxicity to other aquatic organisms

Administrative data

Endpoint:

toxicity to other aquatic vertebrates

Type of information:

migrated information: read-across from supporting substance (structural analogue or surrogate)

Adequacy of study:

supporting study

Reliability:

2 (reliable with restrictions)

Rationale for reliability incl. deficiencies:

other: see 'Remark'

Remarks:

Study follows acceptable scientific principles, study is peer-reviewed. Not a guideline study or standard test species, therefore only included as supporting evidence for the lack aquatic toxicity of orthophosphates. Type of sodium phosphate used is not identifed.

Data source

Reference

Reference Type:

publication

Title:

Evaluation of Phosphate Toxicity in Cope’s Gray Treefrog (Hyla chrysoscelis) Tadpoles

Author:

Earl JE & Whiteman HH

Year:

2010

Bibliographic source:

Journal of Herpetology, Vol. 44, No. 2, pp. 201–208

Materials and methods

Test guideline

Qualifier:

no guideline available

Principles of method if other than guideline:

To investigate possible phosphate toxicity, Hyla chrysoscelis tadpoles were exposed to concentrations ranging from 0–200 mg/L PO4-P for 15 days.

GLP compliance:

not specified

Test material

Test material information

Constituent 1

Reference substance name:

sodium phosphate

IUPAC Name:

sodium phosphate

Details on test material:

- Name of test material (as cited in study report): sodium phosphate

Test solutions

Details on test solutions:

Each treatment had 40 replicates with one tadpole per dish as a replicate. Each day, the number of dead tadpoles was assessed. The water was changed every three days to produce a static renewal experiment and water samples were taken from a randomly chosen dish from each treatment at the time of the water change. On days when the water was not changed, 10 ml of the very soft water solution with 0 mg/L PO4-P was added to every dish to compensate for water loss resulting from evaporation. In one randomly chosen dish from each treatment, the temperature to the nearest 0.25uC, pH to 0.01, and dissolved oxygen to 0.01 mg/L, were measured every one to two days using a mercury thermometer, Orion pH meter model 210A, and YSI dissolved oxygen meter model 54A, respectively.

Test organisms

Test organisms (species):

Hyla chrysoscelis

Details on test organisms:

TEST ORGANISM
- Common name: Cope's Gray Treefrog
- Strain: Hyla chrysoscelis
- Source: Hyla chrysoscelis eggs were collected on 2 June 2006 from a pond at Hancock Biological Station in Calloway County, Kentucky.
- Age at study initiation (mean and range, SD): The experiment was started three days after hatching, when tadpoles, ranging from stage 23–25
- Feeding during test: yes
- Food type: mixture of ground alfalfa pellets and fish food at a 3 : 1 ratio.
- Amount: no data
- Frequency: ad libitum

Study design

Test type:

static

Water media type:

freshwater

Limit test:

no

Total exposure duration:

15 d

Remarks on exposure duration:

approximately half to three-fourths of the total larval period of H. chrysoscelis under similar laboratory conditions

Post exposure observation period:

None

Test conditions

Hardness:

10–13 mg CaCO3/L

Test temperature:

Test temperature was measured to the nearest 0.25°C but values are not quoted in literature report.

pH:

6.4-6.8

Dissolved oxygen:

Dissolved oxygen was measured but values are not quoted in literature report.

Salinity:

Not applicable

Nominal and measured concentrations:

0, 1, 10, 100, and 200 mg/L PO4-P as sodium phosphate.

Details on test conditions:

TEST SYSTEM
- Test vessel: glass culture dish

Results and discussion

Effect concentrations

Dose descriptor:

NOEC

Effect conc.:

200 mg/L

Any other information on results incl. tables

Phosphate was not found to be directly toxic to the test species. However, addition of phosphate did result in pH increases which could result in pH-related effects.

Applicant's summary and conclusion

Conclusions:

Phosphate was found to have no effect on the survival, growth, or developmental stability of the tadpoles, indicating that phosphate may not be toxic to this species at levels associated with anthropogenic inputs. Phosphate was found to increase the pH of the test water, which, in conjunction with other stressors, may have negative effects within aquatic communities. However, phosphate could also affect anuran tadpoles positively by increasing algal food resources.