Assessing contaminant sensitivity of endangered and threatened aquatic species: part I. Acute toxicity of five chemicals.

Assessment of contaminant impacts to federally identified endangered, threatened and candidate, and state-identified endangered species (collectively referred to as "listed" species) requires understanding of a species' sensitivities to particular chemicals. The most direct approach would be to determine the sensitivity of a listed species to a particular contaminant or perturbation. An indirect approach for aquatic species would be application of toxicity data obtained from standard test procedures and species commonly used in laboratory toxicity tests. Common test species (fathead minnow, Pimephales promelas; sheepshead minnow, Cyprinodon variegatus; and rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss) and 17 listed or closely related species were tested in acute 96-hour water exposures with five chemicals (carbaryl, copper, 4-nonylphenol, pentachlorophenol, and permethrin) representing a broad range of toxic modes of action. No single species was the most sensitive to all chemicals. For the three standard test species evaluated, the rainbow trout was more sensitive than either the fathead minnow or sheepshead minnow and was equal to or more sensitive than listed and related species 81% of the time. To estimate an LC50 for a listed species, a factor of 0.63 can be applied to the geometric mean LC50 of rainbow trout toxicity data, and more conservative factors can be determined using variance estimates (0.46 based on 1 SD of the mean and 0.33 based on 2 SD of the mean). Additionally, a low- or no-acute effect concentration can be estimated by multiplying the respective LC50 by a factor of approximately 0.56, which supports the United States Environmental Protection Agency approach of multiplying the final acute value by 0.5 (division by 2). When captive or locally abundant populations of listed fish are available, consideration should be given to direct testing. When direct toxicity testing cannot be performed, approaches for developing protective measures using common test species toxicity data are available.

Toxicity assessment of sediments from the Grand Calumet River and Indiana Harbor Canal in Northwestern Indiana, USA.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the toxicity of sediments from the Grand Calumet River and Indiana Harbor Canal located in northwestern Indiana, USA. Toxicity tests used in this assessment included 10-day sediment exposures with the amphipod Hyalella azteca, 31-day sediment exposures with the oligochaete Lumbriculus variegatus, and the Microtox Solid-Phase Sediment Toxicity Test. A total of 30 sampling stations were selected in locations that had limited historic matching toxicity and chemistry data. Toxic effects on amphipod survival were observed in 60% of the samples from the assessment area. Results of a toxicity test with oligochaetes indicated that sediments from the assessment area were too toxic to be used in proposed bioaccumulation testing. Measurement of amphipod length after the 10-day exposures did not provide useful information beyond that provided by the survival endpoint. Seven of the 15 samples that were identified as toxic in the amphipod tests were not identified as toxic in the Microtox test, indicating that the 10-day H. azteca test was more sensitive than the Microtox test. Samples that were toxic tended to have the highest concentrations of metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The toxic samples often had an excess of simultaneously extracted metals (SEM) relative to acid volatile sulfide (AVS) and had multiple exceedances of probable effect concentrations (PECs). Metals may have contributed to the toxicity of samples that had both an excess molar concentration of SEM relative to AVS and elevated concentrations of metals in pore water. However, of the samples that had an excess of SEM relative to AVS, only 38% of these samples had elevated concentration of metals in pore water. The lack of correspondence between SEM-AVS and pore water metals indicates that there are variables in addition to AVS controlling the concentrations of metals in pore water. A mean PEC quotient of 3.4 (based on concentrations of metals, PAHs, and PCBs) was exceeded in 33% of the sediment samples and a mean quotient of 0.63 was exceeded in 70% of the thirty sediment samples from the assessment area. A 50% incidence of toxicity has been previously reported in a database for sediment tests with H. azteca at a mean quotient of 3.4 in 10-day exposures and at a mean quotient of 0.63 in 28-day exposures. Among the Indiana Harbor samples, most of the samples with a mean PEC quotient above 0.63 ( i.e., 15 of 21; 71%) and above 3.4 ( i.e., 10 of 10; 100%) were toxic to amphipods. Results of this study and previous studies demonstrate that sediments from this assessment area are among the most contaminated and toxic that have ever been reported.

Gender, perceptions of harm, and other social predictors of alcohol use in a Punjabi community in the Toronto area.

Based on self-administered face-to-face interviews conducted in 1992-93 with 524 members of the Punjabi community in Peel, near Toronto, this study investigates the factors associated with alcohol use in the community. Results from alcohol and other drug surveys in Ontario are used for comparison between the two samples regarding drinking and sociodemographic characteristics. Bivariate analyses indicate a lower prevalence rate of drinking among the Punjabi sample than the Ontario population, especially among women. In spite of this, a majority of the Punjabi respondents perceive that alcohol problems are widespread in their community. Logistic regression results show that sex, importance of religion, perceived risk of alcohol, and opinion on alcohol price in the province are significantly associated with alcohol use. The effects of socioeconomic status, perception of public drunkenness, and levels of integration appear to be not significant. In light of these results, some implications for "alcohol abuse" prevention strategies are discussed.

Drinking patterns, psychosocial characteristics and alcohol consequences.

AIMS: The purpose of this study was to investigate (a) the potential mediating role of alcohol consumption in the relationship between psychosocial variables and adverse consequences of drinking, and (b) the possible moderating role of psychosocial variables in the relationship between alcohol consumption and adverse consequences. DESIGN: Multi-stage sampling procedures were used to select households for a general population survey. Interviews were conducted with one member in each of 35, 479 households and self-administered questionnaires were left for all residents aged 12 years and older (N = 49 164, response rate: 77.2%). SETTING: Data were collected as part of the Ontario (Canada) Health Survey. PARTICIPANTS: The present study included 33, 568 current drinkers aged 18 or older. MEASUREMENTS: Analyses included the following variables: alcohol consumption, adverse consequences related to drinking, sex, age, marital status, self-rated health, perceived stress, income, education, employment status and family dysfunction. FINDINGS: Alcohol consumption appeared to mediate the relationship of adverse consequences with age, sex, marital status, education, income and employment, but not with health, stress or family dysfunction which were independently associated with adverse consequences. The relationship between alcohol consumption and adverse consequences was moderated by age, marital status, education and employment. CONCLUSIONS: These results help to clarify the interrelationship of alcohol consumption and psychosocial characteristics in experiencing adverse consequences related to drinking.

Alcohol use and reported visits to health professionals: an exploratory study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the differences in visits to health care professionals between drinkers and nondrinkers, as well as between regular and frequent drinkers. METHODS: Multivariate analyses were conducted, using data from a population survey (weighted N = 35,246, 53.6% women). Analyses were carried out for men and women separately, controlling for the effects of age, health problems and psychological well-being. RESULTS: In general, visits to health professionals increased with age and number of health problems. Abstainers and former drinkers were more likely to visit health care professionals than were current drinkers. Former drinkers reported higher number of visits than abstainers for both men and women. Among male current drinkers, reported number of visits to health professionals appeared to decrease as drinks per day increased. These associations, however, were not significant among women. CONCLUSIONS: In light of these results, it was suggested that heavier drinkers might take a less preventive approach to health than either light or moderate drinkers. More research is needed to examine the differences in health behaviors between heavier and light/moderate drinkers.

Associating leisure with drinking: current research and future directions.

This paper has two components: (1) a survey of current research relating drinking with leisure, and (2) suggestions for future studies in the area. A total of 43 relevant journal articles published between 1980 and 1994 were located via an on-line search. Results of these studies generally fall under one of the following themes: (1) alcohol is an integral part of leisure experience, (2) drinking is an impediment to leisure, (3) participation in active leisure reduces alcohol use/abuse, and (4) drinking and leisure have no relations. Overall, it was found that current research suffered an overdependence on special populations and a lack of robust instruments measuring either drinking or leisure. Suggestions for future research were provided, such as better research design and greater integration of leisure into alcohol research.