An evaluation of the

Ceriodaphnia dubia chronic

toxicity
test as an indicator of
instream effects from
mountaintop coal mining
Margaret Passmore, Amy Bergdale, Greg Pond, Louis
Reynolds, Kelly Krock and Frank Borsuk
US EPA R3, Wheeling, WV
Jones Branch
Middle Fork Watershed
Martin Co., KY
 Background

• Alkaline coal mining effluent

• Elevated Total Dissolved Solids
(dominated by Ca2+, Mg2+, HCO3- and
SO42-), Fe, Mn, Ni, Zn, Se and NO3-
• Mined streams have increased base flow
• Adverse effects to water quality and
benthic macroinvertebrates
 Background
• NPDES permit limits require pH, Fe and
TSS
• Some WQBELs for Mn, Al, Se
• No limits for TDS/conductivity/ions
• Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) testing
has been proposed for NPDES permits
• Would WET protect native biota?
 Objectives
• What level of water quality degradation
is associated with lethal or sublethal
effects to C. dubia ?
• What’s causing the observed toxicity?
• How do WET results compare to
macroinvertebrate results?
• Can C. dubia chronic tests indicate
instream aquatic life condition?
 Site Criteria
• Central Appalachians
• Headwater streams downstream valley fills
• pH circum neutral or alkaline
• Cond > 1000 uS/cm
• Sampling reach upstream of residences
• Impaired aquatic life
• Physical habitat “sufficient”
• 18 headwater streams, 1 pond, 1 ditch
• 1 VA, 7 KY, 12 WV
Site Locations
 Methods
• WVDEP macroinvertebrates
– WVSCI, genus level metrics
– All sites impaired for macroinvertebrates
• RPB habitat
• C. dubia 7-day chronic testing
– IC25: dilution that resulted in a 25% decrease in
reproduction compared to control
– IC25 > 100%, no toxicity; as IC25 decreases, more
toxicity
• Field and lab chems
• Ion Toxicity Model (Mount et al 1997): Acute
48-hr mortality, relative measure of ion
toxicity
K+ > HCO3- = Mg2+ > Cl- > SO42-
Habitat not a
confounding
factor:

UNT to Cow
Creek
Island Creek
watershed
Logan Co., WV
RBP 165
Optimal
Habitat a slight
confounding
factor:

Upper Dempsey
Branch
Pigeon Creek
Watershed
Logan Co., WV
RBP 146
Marginal to
suboptimal
Habitat a severe
confounding
Factor? Severe
mineral
precipitation
caused by
poor water quality.

UNT Leatherwood
Creek
Leatherwood Creek
Clay Co., WV
RBP 111
Marginal - poor
Mineral precipitation on substrates
UNT Leatherwood Creek
WV
A single Hydropsyche was collected.
 C. dubia Results
• Lethal and sublethal toxicity at 2 sites
• Sublethal toxicity at 15 sites
• No toxicity at 3 sites (IC25 > 100%)
• Mean IC25 of toxic samples was 21%
• Conductivity of ambient sample was a
good predictor of toxicity
 Conductivity and IC 25
100

90
R2 = 0.8012
80
IC25 Reproduction

70 Increasing Toxicity

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000

Spec. Cond. Of Ambient Sample (uS/cm)

 Conductivity,
2500

2000 hardness,
1500
calcium,
No reproductive effect
Reproductive effect
magnesium,
potassium, nickel
1000

500 and sulfate were

0
significantly
Lab Conductivity
100%
Hardness (by
calc.mg/l)
Sulfate (mg/l)
higher in sites
that exhibited
250
reproductive
200
effects (n=17)
compared to
150
those that did
100 not (n=3).
50
All [Metals] <
0 chronic
Criteria.
Calcium (mg/l) Magnesium (mg/l) Potassium (mg/l) Nickel (ug/l)
 Estimated Chemical Means @ IC 25
• Potential Toxicants
– 546 µS/cm conductivity
– 203 mg/l sulfate
– 108 mg/l HCO3- alkalinity
– 35 mg/l magnesium
– 3 mg/l potassium
– 5.0 µg/l nickel

• Potential Ameliorating Factors

– 291 mg/l hardness
– 59 mg/l calcium
 Observed and Predicted Mortality
1.0

7 day observed mortality

0.9
48 hr observed mortality
48 hr mortality (predicted)

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4 The solid line indicates

complete agreement
0.3 between 48 hr and 7 day
mortality.
0.2

0.1

0.0
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0

C. dubia mortality (observed)

 Observed IC25 and Predicted
Survival
1.00
C. dubia 48 hr survival (predicted)

0.90
mortality low mortality low mortality low
repro high repro med repro low
0.80

Increasing Toxicity
0.70

0.60
mortality med
repro high
0.50

0.40

0.30

0.20

Increasing Toxicity
0.10

0.00
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
C. dubia IC25 Reproduction (observed)
 Conclusions

• 17 of 20 sites toxic
• Effect is chronic and sublethal
• Ions are causing some toxicity
• Metals < chronic criteria
• Additional toxicants present at some
sites?
• Conductivity correlated well to toxicity
 Conclusions

• C. dubia more tolerant than natives

• Habitat confounding at some sites
• WET will not fully protect aquatic life,
but
• WET tests and TIEs still a good idea
• Instream biomonitoring also needed to:
– fully protect aquatic life
– evaluate success of permits