Ambient Water Toxicity Surveys

1. Ambient Water Toxicity Surveys A. Ronald MacGillivray, Ph.D. Environmental Toxicologist Ronald.MacGillivray@drbc.state.nj.us Delaware Estuary Science Conference 2007

2. Advantages of Ambient Water Toxicity Testing • Assesses point sources and non-point sources • Assesses mixtures (cumulative effects) • Assesses toxicants with no chemical specific water quality standards and/or are not being monitored by chemical analysis

3. Previous DRBC Ambient Water Toxicity Studies • Survival of all test organisms not affected • Sub-lethal chronic toxicity suggested at different sampling stations and in different species over the study period • EPA reviews conclude data inconclusive, recommend further study (possible confounding factors e.g., salinity effect)

4. DNREC – Rick Greene NJDEP – Betty Jane Boros-Russo/Michelle Mooney DRBC – Ron MacGillivray DRBC – Tom Fikslin EPA–RIII – Brian Trulear EPA–RII – Jim Ferretti PADEP – Mike Boyer EPA-RIII – Dave Russell DuPont, Haskell Lab – Bob Hoke Rohm & Haas Co. – Steve Brown PWD – Linda O’Donnell AAT – Chris Nally EPA – ORD consultation Chronic Toxicity Workgroup Developing ConsensusOn Test Species and Study Design

5. Objectives • To assess if chronic toxicity, as measured in laboratory controlled experiments, is present in the river water samples collected. • To develop appropriate toxicity tests for the estuary.

6. Freshwater Test Species Pimephales promelas fathead minnow Ceriodaphnia dubia water flea Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata green algae

7. Salinity Tolerant Test Species Menidia beryllina inland silverside (5 to 32 ppt) Americamysis bahia mysid shrimp (10 to 30 ppt) Hyalella azteca amphipod (0 to 15 ppt)

8. 2005 Sitesmid-channel • June Survey (sites T4 to T16) • September Survey (sites T1 to T7)

9. June Survey Conditionsgraph by Dr. N. Suk

10. Niskin sampler to analytical lab sample bottle

11. Transfer to cubitainer for transport to tox lab

12. Ambient Water Toxicity Tests • Expose test species to • 100%, 75%, 50%, 25%, and 12.5% ambient water • Test Duration - 4 to 10 days (species specific) • Test for survival and growth or reproduction • Compare to controls

16. Conclusions • Identified a set of test species and modified toxicity testing methods appropriate for routine monitoring of the estuary. • The June and September 2005 toxicity surveys indicated overall, based on the measured toxicity endpoints, that the ambient water samples collected were not chronically toxic.

17. Future Direction • Shift from a developmental phase of identifying appropriate test species and methods to a monitoring phase with a continued focus on ambient toxicity testing of water. • Increase spatial and temporal coverage of the estuary (new focus on tributaries as well as main-stem)

18. CriteriaforPrioritization of 2007 Tributary Sampling • Direct tributary to the Delaware Estuary in Zones 2 through 5 • Segment of the tributary is listed for toxics in a state Integrated Assessment • History of sampling as part of a tributary monitoring program

19. 2007 Ambient Toxicity Survey

20. Ambient Copper Concentrations at Selected Sites June 2005 survey

21. Water Quality • Dissolved copper did not exceed the applicable regulatory criteria or the site-specific water quality criteria predicted by the BLM for the sites and dates evaluated.