The Aquatic Toxicity of Organic Compounds to Embryo-Larval Stages of Fish and Amphibians

摘要

Aquatic toxicity tests were conducted on 11 organic compounds considered hazardous to water resources. The toxicity of each compound was evaluated using embryo-larval stages of to eight fish and amphibian species. Exposure was initiated at fertilization and maintained through 4 days posthatching. The animal test species exhibited varying degrees of sensitivity to the selected toxicants. Of the 11 test compounds, nitrobenzene, toluene, chlorobenzene, and phenol were the most toxic. The least toxic organics included dichloroethane and methylene chloride. For three chlorinated alkanes, including methylene chloride, chloroform, and carbon tetrachloride toxicity was found to increase with the degree of chlorination.