Acute toxicity of polar narcotics to three aquatic species (Daphnia magna, poecilia reticulata and Lymnaea stagnalis) and its relation to hydrophobicity

The acute toxicity of a set of 11 polar narcotics was tested to the water flea, the guppy and the pond snail. As expected, the toxicity of these chemicals is higher than predicted from their respective baseline QSARs. Except for some ‘oudiers’ (anilines to the water flea), the toxicity is related to hydrophobicity. In addition, the LBBs (lethal body burdens) of these compounds were determined for the fish and the snail. Obtained LBBs for the fish are consistent with previously reported ranges for this class of pollutants. For both species, systematically lower LBB values have been found at lower exposure concentrations. Based on LB B and 96h-LC50, bioconcentration factors (BCF) were calculated for the fish and the snail. Our estimates are in good agreement with measured and reported BCFs.