The acute toxicity of major ion salts to Ceriodaphnia dubia. III. Mathematical models for mixture toxicity

Based on previous research on the acute toxicity of major ions (Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Cl^–, SO₄^2–, and HCO₃^–/CO₃^2–) to Ceriodaphnia dubia, a mathematical model was developed for predicting the median lethal concentration (LC50) for any ion mixture, excepting those dominated by K-specific toxicity. One component of the model describes a mechanism of general ion toxicity to which all ions contribute and predicts LC50s as a function of osmolarity and Ca activity. The other component describes Mg/Ca-specific toxicity to apply when such toxicity exceeds the general ion toxicity and predicts LC50s as a function of Mg and Ca activities. This model not only tracks well the observed LC50s from past research used for model development but also successfully predicts LC50s from new toxicity tests on synthetic mixtures of ions emulating chemistries of various ion-enriched effluents and receiving waters. It also performs better than a previously published model for major ion toxicity. Because of the complexities of estimating chemical activities and osmolarity, a simplified model based directly on ion concentrations was also developed and found to provide useful predictions. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:247–259. Published 2017 Wiley Periodicals Inc. on behalf of SETAC. This article is a US government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.