SYMPOSIA PAPER Published: 01 January 1977
STP32403S

Acute Toxicity to and Bioconcentration of Endosulfan by Estuarine Animals

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Acute (96-h) flow-through toxicity tests with endosulfan (Thiodan) were conducted with several estuarine animals. The test species and their 96-h lethal concentration for 50 percent of the organisms (LC50) values were: pink shrimp (Penaeus duorarum), 0.04 μg/litre; grass shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio), 1.3 μg/litre; pinfish (Lagodon rhomboides), 0.3 μg/litre; spot (Leiostomus xanthurus), 0.09 μg/litre; and striped mullet (Mugil cephalus), 0.38 μg/litre. In a 56-day bioconcentration study (28-day uptake, 28-day depuration), striped mullet were exposed to 0.008 and 0.08 μg endosulfan/litre seawater. The two endosulfan isomers (endosulfan I and II) were rapidly metabolized to endosulfan sulfate; only trace amounts of each isomer were detected in edible tissue or offal of mullet exposed to 0.08 μg/litre (0.035 μg/litre measured) for 28 days. Maximum bioconcentration factors of endosulfan were 2249 in edible tissue and 2755 in whole-body analyses. After 48 h in pesticide-free seawater, endosulfan was not detected in the previously exposed mullet. Our studies suggest that endosulfan in the estuarine environment would be a hazard because of its acute toxicity and bioconcentration potential, but animals surviving exposure and moving to areas free of endosulfan would lose the chemical rapidly.

Author Information

Schimmel, SC
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Research Laboratory, Fla
Patrick>, JM
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Research Laboratory, Fla
Wilson, AJ
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Research Laboratory, Fla
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Details
Developed by Committee: E35
Pages: 241–252
DOI: 10.1520/STP32403S
ISBN-EB: 978-0-8031-4706-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-8031-0278-1