Acute toxicity of cyanogen chloride to Daphnia magna.

Abstract

The destruction of cyanide in waste waters by chlorination has been shown to result in the formation of the extremely toxic compound, cyanogen chloride. Industrial cyanide-containing waste waters may be treated by a batch chlorination process under highly alkaline conditions prior to being discharged into a receiving water systems. Alternatively, if the concentration of cyanide is relatively low, and such waste waters may be diverted to municipal waste treatment facilities where they may be subjected to a process of chlorination which may not be sufficient for the complete oxidative destruction of the available cyanide. Although a large body of literature exists concerning the toxicity of HCN and metallic cyanide compounds to aquatic organisms, there is a comparative scarcity of information concerning cyanogen chloride toxicity. This study was designed to determine the acute toxicity of CNCl to Daphnia magna neonates under static bioassay conditions.