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Evaluation of Sublethal Toxicity of Nitrite to a Suite of Aquatic Organisms in Support of the Derivation of a Chronic Environmental Water Quality Benchmark

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Abstract

Nitrite is a naturally-occurring inorganic compound that occurs in aquatic environments as an intermediary between nitrate and ammonia in the nitrogen cycle. It is a contaminant of potential concern resulting from anthropogenic activities in some cases. While the acute toxicity of nitrite has been characterized in previous studies, its sublethal toxicity is less understood. To determine the sublethal toxicity of nitrite on freshwater organisms, a suite of organisms was tested including: two salmonids (Oncorhynchus mykiss and O. kisutch), an alga (Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata), an aquatic macrophyte (Lemna minor), and three invertebrates (Ceriodaphnia dubia, Chironomus dilutus, and Neocloeon triangulifer). Test organisms were exposed to nitrite concentrations ranging between 0.02 and 1.28 mg/L nitrite (NO2-N). The toxicity tests were conducted according to procedures specified in standardized methods, allowing for the estimation of multiple endpoints for each test species. Species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) were generated using endpoints from the toxicity testing results, as well as data from previous studies, from which water chemistry approximated that used in the tests (i.e., < 5 mg/L chloride, an important toxicity-modifying factor for nitrite). The mayfly, N. triangulifer, was the most sensitive species, followed by the two salmonids (which represented the second and third most sensitive species), although they were not as sensitive to nitrite exposure as reported in previous studies. The fifth percentile hazard concentration (HC5) generated from the SSD could be used for derivation of regulatory benchmarks and threshold values for site-specific aquatic risk assessments.

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Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge Allegiance Coal for providing funding for this study, and in particular, Angela Waterman and Dan Farmer, who acted as Project Sponsors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nautilus Environmental, Burnaby, BC, Canada

    Josh A. Baker

  2. Borealis Environmental Consulting, Inc, North Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Graham Matheson & Guy Gilron

  3. Windward Environmental, Seattle, WA, USA

    David K. DeForest

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  1. Josh A. Baker
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  2. Graham Matheson
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Contributions

Josh A. Baker: Data curation; Formal analysis; Investigation; Methodology; Project administration; Validation; Visualization; Roles/Writing–original draft. Graham Matheson: Investigation; Visualization; Roles/Writing–original draft. Guy Gilron: Conceptualization; Funding acquisition; Project administration; Resources; Supervision; Writing–review & editing. David K. DeForest: Conceptualization; Project administration; Methodology; Supervision; Writing – review & editing.

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Correspondence to Josh A. Baker.

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The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. The authors declare no financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests.

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Baker, J.A., Matheson, G., Gilron, G. et al. Evaluation of Sublethal Toxicity of Nitrite to a Suite of Aquatic Organisms in Support of the Derivation of a Chronic Environmental Water Quality Benchmark. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 83, 1–12 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-022-00941-8

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