Hardness-Dependent Water Quality Criteria for Protection of Freshwater Aquatic Organisms for Silver in China

Abstract

Silver is toxic to freshwater aquatic organisms and aquatic ecosystems, and it is necessary to develop regional water quality criteria (WQC) for silver to protect the freshwater aquatic organisms in China. The toxicity database of silver for freshwater aquatic organisms involved 121 acute toxicity values for 35 species (6 phyla and 27 families) and 15 chronic toxicity values for 4 species (2 phyla and 4 families). Teleost fish showed the most sensitivity to silver after both short-term and long-term exposure. Significant correlations between the natural logarithms of hardness and the natural logarithms of acute silver toxicity were found for Daphnia magna, Oncorhynchus mykiss, and Pimephales promelas. The criterion maximum concentration (CMC) was calculated by the species sensitivity distribution method with sigmoid as the best fitting model (Adj R2 0.9797), and the criterion continuous concentration (CCC) was obtained by the acute-to-chronic ratio method. The CMC and CCC of silver were e1.58 ln (HCaCO3)−8.68, and e1.58 ln (HCaCO3)−10.28 respectively, in China, with water hardness (HCaCO3, mg/L) as an independent variable. This research can provide a basis and reference for the management of silver to protect freshwater aquatic organisms in China.