Toxicity of Mustard Gas and Two Arsenic Based Chemical Warfare Agents on 'Daphniamagna'. For Evaluation of the Ecotoxicological Risk of the Dumped Chemical Warfare Agents in the Baltic Sea (Toxiciteten av Senapsgas och Tva Arsenikbaserade Kemiska Stridsme

摘要

Mustard gas, Clark I (diphenylarsine chloride) and Clark II (diphenylarsinecyanide) were investigated for their acute toxic effects on Daphnia magna in brackish water. The Clark compounds were tested for acute toxicity at three different temperatures: 4.0, 8.0, and 19.5 deg C. After 48 h exposure, the EC50-values were significantly higher in the low temeprature experiments than in the high temperature experiment. However, after 6 days, the EC50-values were nearly the same for all temperatures. This suggests that the minimum EC50-values of a substance in independent of temperature and that the important factor is the exposure time. Additionally, a sediment experiment conducted with Clark I indicated that Clark I absorbs to the sediment. A risk assessment of the dumped chemical warfare agents was conducted. The conclusions from this risk assessment were that mustard gas does not appear to pose an acute toxicological threat to organisms living in the water mass, but the Clark substances constitute a potential risk to these organisms.