Short communication-Survey of Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE) toxicity using bioassay on Daphnia magna

摘要

In this study, the toxicity of MTBE on the crustacean Daphnia magna (Cladocera) has been studied. At the beginning, for finding the range of sensitivity of D. magna to MTBE, a test had been conducted at 24h. The initial and final tests with synthetic MTBE has been done with containing solutions of water accommodated fractions (WAFs) in periods of 24 and 48h and then static bioassay was calculated in two phases of tests and the data were obtained and analyzed by SPSS 13 by using probit analysis. In 24h, lc10, lc50 and lc90 for MTBE on D. magna were 345, 646 and 941mg/l and for 48h, they were 361, 476 and 893mg/l, respectively. Also, the maximum allowable concentration (MAC) of MTBE (WAFs) on D. magna was determined in 24 and 48h, 64.6 and 47.6mg/l, respectively. Results indicated that D. magna could be used for toxicity tracing MTBE in surface and ground water, because these Crustaceans have perfect resistance against pollution of MTBE. It is also concluded that after 24 and 48h exposure time, there was no significant difference observed in the activity and mortality of D. magna. Since Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE) was used widespread as a fuel oxygenated in gasoline, it commonly contaminates ground water, drinking water, coastal waters, and other aquatic bodies (Werner et al., 2001). Ecotoxicologic studies of MTBE were mainly performed in freshwater ecosystem and reported the concentration of acute toxicity, ranging from 136 to 1000mg/L which varied according to organism species. Therefore, the toxicological studies mixture of chemicals is growing (Hernondo et al., 2002). The main goal of this study was to evaluate toxic effects of MTBE using Crustacean (D. magna). The second goal of this research included.