Publications

Laboratory studies were conducted with five early life stages of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, to determine the acute toxicities of five fire-fighting chemical formulations in standardized soft and hard water. Eyed egg, embryo–larvae, swim-up fry, and 60- and 90-d posthatch juveniles were exposed to three fire retardants (Fire-Trol LCG-R, Fire-Trol GTS-R, and Phos-Chek D75-F) and...

β-Adrenoceptors (βARs) and muscarinic cholinergic receptors were measured in brain, gill, and heart tissues of brown bullhead catfish exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Black River, Ohio, USA, and were compared to values from Old Woman Creek, Ohio, a reference site. A decreased number of βARs were found in the gill from Black River fish, possibly indicating a compensatory...

Elevated concentrations of planar, halogenated hydrocarbons have been linked to reproductive problems in a variety of fish-eating birds and mammals in the Great Lakes and in particular Saginaw Bay. Currently, there are no accurate procedures to assess bioavailability of these contaminants. Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans and mono- and non-ortho-chloro-substituted...

Acute toxicity tests were conducted exposingDaphnia magnaStraus (daphnid) in soft and hard reconstituted waters (hardness 42 and 162 mg/liter as CaCO3, respectively), andSelenastrum capricornutumPrintz (algae) in ASTM algal assay medium (hardness 15 mg/liter as CaCO3) to fire retardants Fire-Trol GTS-R, Fire-Trol LCG-R, and Phos-Chek D75-F, and foam suppressants Phos-Chek WD-881 and Silv...

Sediment quality assessment values were developed using a weight of evidence approach in which matching biological and chemical data from numerous modelling, laboratory, and field studies performed on freshwater sediments were compiled and analyzed. Two assessment values (a threshold effect level (TEL) and a probable effect level(PEL)) were derived for 23 substances, including eight...

Fire retardants and suppressants used extensively in North America are often applied in environmentally sensitive areas that may contain endangered, threatened, or economically important plant and animal species. We conducted laboratory acute toxicity tests in both hard and soft waters with five commonly used fire control chemicals (Fire Trol LCG-R, Fire-Trol GTS-R, Phos-Chek D-75-F...

Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) provisions established under federal and state statutes enable natural resource trustees to recover compensation from responsible parties to restore injured natural resources. Behavioral avoidance testing with fish has been used in NRDAs to determine injuries to natural resources and to establish restoration thresholds. In this manuscript we...

The significance of sediment contamination is often evaluated using sediment toxicity (bioassay) testing. There are relatively few “standardized” test methods for evaluating sediments. Popular sediment toxicity methods examine the extractable water (elutriate), interstitial water, or whole (bulk) sediment phases using test species spanning the aquatic food chain from bacteria to fish...

Studies by Russian scientists have documented significant alterations and impairment of critical behavioral functions in aquatic organisms following exposure to environmental contaminants. Behavioral responses disrupted by sublethal exposure to toxicants are intimately involved in habitat selection, foraging, competition, predator-prey relationships, and reproduction, and are essential...

Sediment bioassays with larvae of the midge, Chironomus tentans, were used to evaluate influences on the bioavailability and toxicity of copper (Cu) in sediments with a wide range of concentrations of metals, acid-volatile sulfide (AVS), and other physicochemical characteristics. Sediments were collected from sixteen lakes in Michigan, USA, and from twelve sites in the Clark Fork River...

We sampled macroinvertebrate communities at six sites on the upper Clark Fork River, Montana, to determine relations between macroinvertebrate community structure and metals in invertebrates and the best benthic community metrics to use for ranking sites based on the relative severity of the effects of metals. Concentrations (μg/g) of six metals in invertebrates were determined: Al...

The environmental, biological, and ecological requirements of but a few species used in testing sediments are known and well understood. The present investigation was designed to provide fundamental information on the postembryonic growth and development of Hyalella azteca (Amphipoda) that can be used as sublethal indicators of contaminated sediments, and the influence growth...