TOXICITY OF TRACE-METALS TO ACARTIA-TONSA IN THE ELIZABETH RIVER AND SOUTHERN CHESAPEAKE BAY

Dissolved zinc and copper and free cupric ions were present at high concentrations in water from the Elizabeth River estuary (a polluted tributary of the southern Chesapeake Bay) when compared to values in nearby Hampton Roads and lower Chesapeake Bay. Zinc concentrations at three stations in the Elizabeth River ranged from 87 to 1550 nM compared to values of 3·1 to 16 nM at four stations in the southern Chesapeake Bay. Likewise, free cupric ion concentration ranged from 10-11·6 to 10-10·1 M at the Elizabeth River stations, but was appreciably lower (10-12·3 to 10-12·6 M) in samples from Hampton Roads and the lower bay. In bioassays conducted with the copepod Acartia tonsa, the survival of naupliar larvae was much lower in Elizabeth River samples, containing high levels of copper and zinc, than in samples from the Chesapeake Bay or Newport River estuary which contained much lower levels of these metals. Based on previous results in trace metal ion buffered media, measured free cupric ion concentrations and estimated free zinc ion concentrations appear to have been high enough in the Elizabeth River samples to account for at least some of the observed decrease in larval survival. Furthermore, the addition of chelators, EDTA and NTA, that complex and detoxify copper and zinc (as well as cadmium, nickel and lead) significantly increased larval survival in the Elizabeth River samples. These results strongly support the hypothesis that elevated levels of copper and zinc (and possibly other toxic trace metals) occur at sufficiently high concentrations in Elizabeth River water to adversely affect Acartia tonsa and other sensitive estuarine organisms. © 1990.