US EPA

523955 

Journal Article 

Tissue lead concentration during chronic exposure of Pimephales promelas (fathead minnow) to lead nitrate in aquarium water 

Spokas, EG; Spur, BW; Smith, H; Kemp, FW; Bogden, JD 

2006 

1 

Environmental Science & Technology
ISSN: 0013-936X
EISSN: 1520-5851 

Amer Chemical Soc 

WASHINGTON 

40 

21 

6852-6858 

English 

17144321 

10.1021/es060811o 

WOS:000241628800056 

The fathead minnow is a useful species for evaluating the toxicity of wastewater effluents. While this fish is widely used for “survival” studies of metal toxicity, little or no work has been done on the tissue distribution of metals in fathead minnows. To determine the distribution of tissue lead, aquarium studies were conducted for several weeks with fish maintained in soft synthetic freshwater. Lead(II) nitrate was added to three aquaria attaining concentrations of 20−30 ppb (aquarium B), 100−140 ppb (aquarium C), and roughly 200 ppb (aquarium D). Results were compared to controls (aquarium A). During the initial week, the majority of aquarium D fish died, whereas few deaths occurred in the other groups. Lead accumulation was dose- and tissue-dependent, with highest uptake by the gills. Gill concentrations of aquarium D fish averaged about 4-fold higher than in skeleton or skin and muscle. In vitro, lead (2.5−25 ppm) caused dose-dependent reductions in the ratio of reduced glutathione/oxidized glutathione (GSH/GSSG) in gills incubated in physiological buffer. These findings demonstrate that fathead minnow gills bind and accumulate waterborne lead rapidly and preferentially and raise the possibility that gill lipid peroxidation contributes to lead toxicity at low water hardness. 

trout oncorhynchus-mykiss; lipid-peroxidation; atpase activity; acute; toxicity; in-vitro; fish; accumulation; glutathione; mercury; metals 

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY