Sodium sulfate impacts feeding, specific dynamic action, and growth rate in the freshwater bivalve Corbicula fluminea.

Sodium sulfate is a ubiquitous salt that reaches toxic concentrations due to mining and other industrial activities, yet is currently unregulated at the Federal level in the United States. Previous studies have documented reduced growth of clams downstream of sulfate-dominated effluents, altered bioenergetics in filter-feeding invertebrates, and interactions between sulfate and other toxicants. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine if sodium sulfate affects the bioenergetics of the filter-feeding, freshwater bivalve, Corbicula fluminea, and the mechanism by which the effects are elicited. In addition to measuring effects on feeding, respiration and growth rates, I evaluated the relative sensitivity of a green algae consumed by clams to determine if top-down or bottom-up effects might be exhibited under field conditions. This study demonstrated that sodium sulfate had no effect on basal metabolic rates, but significantly reduced the feeding, post-feeding metabolic, and growth rates of C. fluminea. The proposed mechanism for these impacts is that filtering rates are reduced upon exposure, resulting in reduced food consumption and therefore, preventing increased metabolic rates normally associated with post-feeding specific dynamic action (SDA). In the field, these effects may cause changes in whole stream respiration rates and organic matter dynamics, as well as alter uptake rates of other food-associated contaminants like selenium, the toxicity of which is known to be antagonized by sulfate, in filter-feeding bivalves.

Comparison of hardness- and chloride-regulated acute effects of sodium sulfate on two freshwater crustaceans.

Based on previous observations that hardness (and potentially chloride) influences sodium sulfate toxicity, the objective of the current study was to quantify the influence of both chloride and water hardness on acute toxicity to Hyalella azteca and Ceriodaphnia dubia. In addition, observed toxicity data from the present study were compared to toxicity predictions by the salinity/ toxicity relationship (STR) model. Hardness had a strong influence on sulfate toxicity that was similar for both crustaceans, and nearly identical median lethal concentration (LC50)/hardness slopes were observed for the two species over the tested range. Chloride had a strong but variable influence on sulfate acute toxicity, depending on the species tested and the concentration range. At lower chloride concentrations, LC50s for H. azteca strongly were correlated positively with chloride concentration, although chloride did not affect the toxicity of sodium sulfate to C. dubia. The opposite trend was observed over the higher range of chloride concentrations where there was a negative correlation between chloride concentration and sulfate LC50 for both species. The widely ranging values for both species and a high correlation between LC50s in terms of sulfate and conductivity suggested that, whether based on sulfate, conductivity, or total dissolved solids (TDS), attempts at water quality standard development should incorporate the fact that water quality parameters such as hardness and chloride strongly influence the toxicity of high TDS solutions. The STR model predicted toxicity to C. dubia relatively well when chloride was variable and hardness fixed at approximately 100 mg/L; however, the model did not account for the protective effect of hardness on major ion/TDS toxicity.

Effects of hardness, chloride, and acclimation on the acute toxicity of sulfate to freshwater invertebrates.

The acute toxicity of sulfate to Ceriodaphnia dubia, Chironomus tentans, Hyalella azteca, and Sphaerium simile was assessed to support potential updates of Illinois (USA) sulfate criteria for the protection of aquatic life. The mean lethal concentrations to 50% of a sample population (LC50s), expressed as mg S04(-2)/L, in moderately hard reconstituted water (MHRW) were as follows: 512 mg/L for H. azteca, 2,050 mg/L for C. dubia, 2,078 mg/L for S. simile, and 14,134 mg/L for C. tentans. At constant sulfate (approximately 2,800 mg/L) and hardness (106 mg/L), survival of H. azteca was positively correlated with chloride concentration. Hardness also was found to ameliorate sodium sulfate toxicity to C. dubia and H. azteca, with LC50s for C. dubia increasing from 2,050 mg SO4(-2)/L at hardness = 90 mg/L to 3,516 mg SO4(-2)/L at hardness = 484 mg/L. Using a reformulated MHRW with a similar hardness but higher chloride concentration and different calcium to magnesium ratio than that in standard MHRW, the mean LC50 for H. azteca increased to 2,855 mg/L, and the LC50 for C. dubia increased to 2,526 mg/L. Acclimation of C. dubia to 500 and 1,000 mg SO4(-2)/L for several generations nominally increased mean LC50 values compared with those cultured in standard MHRW.