Concentrations Of Bleached Kraft Mill Effluent Research Articles

Bluegill ( Lepomis macrochirus) vitellogenin: purification and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of endocrine disruption by papermill effluent

Vitellogenin (VTG) is a highly specific marker of exposure to environmental estrogens and has been used extensively in field and laboratory studies of estrogenic endocrine disruption in fishes. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a sensitive, competitive, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) specific for bluegill ( Lepomis macrochirus) vitellogenin. Bluegill VTG was purified by anion exchange chromatography on DEAE-agarose. The polypeptide had an apparent mass of 170 kDa and was specifically recognized by the rabbit antiserum raised against bluegill female-specific plasma protein. Plasma samples from vitellogenic females diluted in parallel with the purified VTG standard curve in the ELISA. The detection limit of the assay was 29 ng/ml and the working range extended to 2700 ng/ml. Recovery of purified VTG was 85.8±9.5%, intra-assay variation was 6.4% and interassay variation was 12.3%. We used this ELISA to analyze the seasonal cycle of vitellogenesis in female bluegill and to evaluate potential disruption of this process by exposure to bleached kraft mill effluent (BKME). Captive female bluegill stocked in outdoor experimental streams in New Bern, NC had the lowest levels of VTG, estradiol-17β (E2), and testosterone (T) and the smallest oocyte diameters in January, but these variables increased in March and remained elevated through August, suggesting an extended spawning season. Plasma VTG, E2, T and oocyte diameter were unaffected by exposure to BKME concentrations as high as 30%. Development of the VTG ELISA allowed rapid and convenient analysis of plasma samples to evaluate exposure to potential endocrine disrupting compounds.

Toxicant interactions with food algae: A missing link between laboratory and field effects?

Algae fed to invertebrate subjects of chronic toxicity testing are cultured without exposure to test substances. This approach may reduce the ability of bioassays to predict field effects because it assumes that bioconcentration is the only important uptake route, and that an interaction between toxicant and algae does not occur or is not relevant to the effect of the toxicant on test animals. The research presented in this paper focuses on the effects of a bleached kraft mill effluent (BKME) on algae used as food for test animals and the possible consequences of this exposure to bioassay results. The experiment consisted of exposing cultures of a pennate diatom, Navicula, to a range (0–7%) of BKME concentrations for 15 days. Final biomass (measured as chlorophyll a and ash free dry mass) was significantly greater in cultures exposed to 5% and 7% BKME. The carbon-to-nitrogen ratio was significantly higher in diatom cultures exposed to 7% BKME, and total lipid content ranged from 11.7% in the control to 15.8% in the 7% treatment. BKME exposure also increased bacterial content and altered the elemental composition (particularly strontium, barium, iron, and cobalt) of Navicula relative to control cultures. Because changes in food abundance and food quality (e.g., dietary lipids, carbohydrates, proteins) are known to modify toxicity and because contaminant uptake can occur through ingestion, exposing algal food supplies to toxicants would allow chronic bioassays to better simulate field conditions. This approach would be of value in situations where bioassays are intended to predict field effects rather than to compare the toxic potential of effluent samples. Although culturing food algae under exposure to contaminants poses methodological challenges, this approach may serve to enhance the predictive ability of chronic bioassays. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Environ Toxicol 16: 31–42, 2001

Toxicant interactions with food algae: a missing link between laboratory and field effects?

Algae fed to invertebrate subjects of chronic toxicity testing are cultured without exposure to test substances. This approach may reduce the ability of bioassays to predict field effects because it assumes that bioconcentration is the only important uptake route, and that an interaction between toxicant and algae does not occur or is not relevant to the effect of the toxicant on test animals. The research presented in this paper focuses on the effects of a bleached kraft mill effluent (BKME) on algae used as food for test animals and the possible consequences of this exposure to bioassay results. The experiment consisted of exposing cultures of a pennate diatom, Navicula, to a range (0-7%) of BKME concentrations for 15 days. Final biomass (measured as chlorophyll a and ash free dry mass) was significantly greater in cultures exposed to 5% and 7% BKME. The carbon-to-nitrogen ratio was significantly higher in diatom cultures exposed to 7% BKME, and total lipid content ranged from 11.7% in the control to 15.8% in the 7% treatment. BKME exposure also increased bacterial content and altered the elemental composition (particularly strontium, barium, iron, and cobalt) of Navicula relative to control cultures. Because changes in food abundance and food quality (e.g., dietary lipids, carbohydrates, proteins) are known to modify toxicity and because contaminant uptake can occur through ingestion, exposing algal food supplies to toxicants would allow chronic bioassays to better simulate field conditions. This approach would be of value in situations where bioassays are intended to predict field effects rather than to compare the toxic potential of effluent samples. Although culturing food algae under exposure to contaminants poses methodological challenges, this approach may serve to enhance the predictive ability of chronic bioassays.

The Removal of Chlorinated Phenolic Compounds from Chlorine Bleaching Effluents Using Thermophilic Anaerobic Processes

Thermophilic (55°C) anaerobic removal of chlorinated phenolic compounds (CPC) from softwood bleaching effluents was studied using four different types of anaerobic processes: an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor (R1); a UASB reactor enriched with sulfate (R2); a UASB reactor with recirculation (R3); and a fixed bed reactor with recirculation (R4). The concentrations of 16 CPCs were analyzed by gas Chromatography. In all processes most of the chlorinated phenols, catechols, guaiacols, and hydroquinons detected in the bleached kraft mill effluent (BKME) were either eliminated or reduced by as much as 80-95%. However, 2,4-DCP, 2,6-DCP, 4,5-DCG, 3,4,5-TCC, and TeCC were accumulated or only partially removed in all reactors, except in R4 where at high concentrations they were significantly reduced. All the reactors removed 30-70% of the COD and 25-67% of the adsorbable organic halides (AOX). The reactors with recirculation had slightly higher removal efficiencies than the other reactors, while the addition of sulfate had no apparent effect. High concentrations of BKME reduced the COD removal efficiency but not the CPC removal.

Effects of bleached kraft mill effluent on early life stages of brown trout ( Salmo trutta L.)

Brown trout ( Salmo trutta L.) eggs fertilized in clean water were incubated in bleached kraft mill effluent (BKME) concentrations of 0, 0.5, 1, and 2% (v/v) in a continuous-flow system and exposure was continued with the sac fry for most of the yolk sac stage. In addition, sac fry first incubated in clean water exposed after hatching to the same concentrations for 44 days. Percentage hatching was lower than in the control only in 2% BKME. In all the BKME concentrations, the newly hatched sac fry were shorter than the controls, and their heart rate was slower. All the sac fry in 2% BKME died within 3 weeks after the end of hatching. At the late yolk sacstage the sac fry in the other concentrations of BKME were shorter and less well developed than the controls. Their wet and dry weights were higher and their water content was lower because of retarded yolk absorption. Exposure commencing after hatching also caused retarded growth and development. In the sac fry exposed to BKME only after hatching, mortality increased with the concentration and all the sac fry in 2% BKME died within 4 weeks.

Subacute physiological effects of bleached kraft mill effluent (BKME) on the liver of trout, Salmo gairdneri

Rainbow trout ( Salmo gairdneri) were exposed for 10 and 30 days to microbiologically treated effluent of a bleached kraft pulp and paper mill (BKME). Throughout the experiments, the quality of dilution water, taken from an upstream location close to the mill, was allowed to vary both diurnally and seasonally (September–October) in a natural manner. The test concentrations averaged 0 (control), 0.6, 1.2, 2.0, and 5.1% (v/v) of BKME. Conjugates of all major resin acids and chlorinated phenolics of BKME, except chlorocatechols, were detected in trout bile. They comprised 93.1–99.9% of the total amounts in the bile. The level of conjugated resin acids increased linearly with the content of BKME in test water. On the other hand, no increase in concentration of conjugated phenolics was seen above 2.0% BKME. In the blood plasma no conjugates were analyzable. Concentrations of free resin acids in the blood plasma, but not in the bile, significantly increased at high test concentrations of BKME. No active excretion of free resin acids from plasma to bile can be inferred, but some of the phenolics—particularly 3,4,5,6-tetrachloroguaiacol—seem to be concentrated in the bile as a free compound. Changes in several biochemical parameters did not display any simple relationship with the external concentrations of BKME. In intermediate exposure concentrations, however, liver RNA and protein concentrations were decreased after 10 days but increased after 30 days. Condition of fish, relative size of the liver, and concentrations of liver glycogen and water were unresponsive to BKME at the dilutions investigated.

EFFECTS OF TREATED BLEACHED KRAFT MILL EFFLUENT ON EGGS AND PROLARVAE OF STRIPED BASS (MORONE SAXATILIS)1

ABSTRACT: Striped bass (Morone saxatilis) eggs and prolarvae were exposed to a range of treated bleached kraft mill effluent (BKME) concentrations from 0 to 20 percent effluent by volume (v/v) under continuous flow test conditions. The treated BKME used in the study before dilution had a BOD5 of 18 to 25 mg/l, TSS of 60 to 185 mg/l and true color of 1750 to 1755 mg/l. No mortality attributable to BKME was found in three separate egg studies. No delayed hatching of the eggs occurred in any of the BKME treatments relative to the control treatment. No significant morphological abnormalities (pugheadness, truncation, or scoliosis) were found in prolarvae exposed to BKME from the egg stage through six days post/hatch. Tests with prolarvae revealed that BKME at concentrations from 2 to 20 percent v/v did not cause mortality during exposures up to 60 hours. However, BKME concentrations ranging between 8 to 12 percent up to 20 percent v/v caused increased mortality after 72 hours of exposure.

The interaction of treated bleached kraft mill effluent and dissolved oxygen concentration on the survival of the developmental stages of the sheepshead minnow ( Cyprinodon variegatus)

The interactions of treated bleached kraft mill effluent (BKME) and dissolved oxygen concentration (DO) on the survival of the embryo, fry, juvenile and adult stages of the sheepshead minnow, Cyprinodon variegatus, were studied under continuous-flow 96 h bioassay conditions. Embryo survival was dependent on effluent concentration only and showed no interaction at nominal DO concentrations of 1.0, 3.0 and 5.0 mg l −1. Survival of the fry was related solely to DO concentration with no interaction with BKME concentrations up to 100%. Juvenile sheepshead minnows showed increased sensitivity to BKME at a nominal DO concentration of 1.0 mg l −1. Adult fish were not affected by BKME at any of the DO concentrations tested. This study shows that the acute toxicity of BKME effluent to sheepshead minnows is a function of the developmental stage of the organism and DO concentration in the receiving stream.

Effect of Bleached Kraft Mill Effluent on the Survival of Starved Juvenile Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch)

Starved coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) fingerlings were exposed to "sublethal" concentrations of neutralized bleached kraft mill effluent (BKME). Time to death was similar in the control group, in fish continuously exposed to BKME concentrations equivalent to 0.05–0.4 of the samples’ 96-h LC50 values, and in fish exposed to a treated (foam-stripped) portion of the samples at a volume equivalent to 0.7 LC50 for untreated effluent. Time to death decreased progressively in groups exposed to effluent concentrations higher than 0.4 of the 96-h LC50.

Response of Lobsters Homarus americanus to Odor Solution in the Presence of Bleached Kraft Mill Effluent

The feeding response of lobsters (Homarus americanus) is not affected by bleached kraft mill effluent (BKME) at low concentrations.In test runways, lobsters walked upstream toward the source of dilute solutions of freeze-dried cod muscle extract (FDC). Differences between test and control responses occurred in only two of 12 comparisons when FDC was associated with 10, 50, and 100% BKME (Series I and II). With six concentrations of BKME, ranging from 0.01 to 2.0%, maintained in the runways (Series IV), responses to FDC were variable, but average responses for controls and tests did not differ. Conditions in the latter tests most closely approximated those in nature where some lobsters could be exposed continuously to low concentrations of BKME.