Assessment of toxicity reduction in wastewater effluent flowing through a treatment wetland using Pimephales promelas, Ceriodaphnia dubia, and Vibrio fischeri.

Effluent toxicity is regularly assessed with Ceriodaphnia dubia short-term chronic and Vibrio fischeri toxicity tests. Condition factor and hemotocrit of fish have recently been used to assess fish health following exposure to xenoestrogens in complex municipal effluents. To assess the ability of a treatment wetland to reduce or remove toxicity of a municipal effluent, we compared C. dubia and V. fischeri bioassays to Pimephales promelas responses in situ. Final whole effluent was diverted to a constructed wetland and effluent samples were taken daily from four sites, at incremental distances from the inflow, for a 3-week study. Overlapping 7-day C. dubia tests and V. fischeri assays were conducted with samples from each wetland site concurrent with a 3-week fish exposure. C. dubia survival and fecundity were significantly (< 0.0001) reduced at the inflow, but steadily improved with distance from the inflow. Fish condition and hematocrit were lower (alpha < 0.05) at wetland sites closer to the inflow than other wetland sites and laboratory controls. However, effluent toxicity was not detected by V. fischeri bioassays. Our findings indicate that 7-day C. dubia bioassays were most sensitive to effluent toxicity and suggest that other bioassays should be used concurrent with V. fischeri assays for municipal effluent toxicity testing.

Distribution and bioaccumulation of selenium in aquatic microcosms.

Closed-system microcosms were used to study factors affecting the fate of selenium (Se) in aquatic systems. Distribution and bioaccumulation of Se varied among sediment types and Se species. A mixture of dissolved (75)Se species (selenate, selenite and selenomethionine) was sorbed more rapidly to fine-textured, highly organic pond sediments than to sandy riverine sediments. Sulfate did not affect the distribution and bioaccumulation of (75)Se over the range 80-180 mg SO(4) liter(-1). When each Se species was labeled separately, selenomethionine was lost from the water column more rapidly than selenate or selenite. Selenium lost from the water column accumulated primarily in sediments, but volatilization was also an important pathway for loss of Se added as selenomethionine. Loss rates of dissolved Se residues were more rapid than rates reported from mesocosm and field studies, suggesting that sediment: water interactions are more important in microcosms than in larger test systems. Daphnids accumulated highest concentrations of Se, followed by periphyton and macrophytes. Selenium added as selenomethionine was bioaccumulated preferentially compared to that added as selenite or selenate. Organoselenium compounds such as selenomethione may thus contribute disproportionately to Se bioaccumulation and toxicity in aquatic organisms.