8273

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 8273
• Author: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.
• Title: Guidelines for Interpretation of the Biological Effects of Selected Constituents in Biota, Water, and Sediment.
• USFW Year: 1998.
• USFW - Doc Type: \
• Copyright Material: NO

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Arsenic

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Table 1.-Summary of comprehensive biotic effects of arsenic
[See Appendix II for explanation of abbreviations and technical terms)

No Level of Toxicity
Medium effect concern threshold Comments/Explanation
Water (~g1L) 48 48-190 190 48 ~g1L is lowest chronic value for As (V) in
aquatic plants; 190 1Jg/L is NAWQ chronic cri-
terion for As (III). See Suter and Mabrey
(1994).
Sediment (mg/kg dw) 8.2 8.2-70 70 "ERL" and "ERM" values of Long et al. 1995.
Plants (mg/kg dw) 1-1.7 2-5 5 Levels in plants (Kabata-Pendias and Pendias
1992) and invertebrates (see table 2) not well
Invertebrates (mg/kg dw) 30 3D-50 50 established, but at least some show no effects
below these tissue concentrations.
Fish (mg/kg dw) 1.0 1-12 12 No-effect level is 85th percentile concentration
from Schmitt and Brumbaugh (1990). Toxicity
threshold from Sandhu (1977).
Bird eggs (mg/kg dw) 1.3 1.3-2.8 <2.8 J.P. Skorupa, unpub. data, 1996.
Amphibians/reptiles - - - Diagnostic effect levels not available.
Mammals. in particular are poor biomonitors for
Mammals - - - As (Talmage and Walton 1991).

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Note: Although diagnostic levels for biiota concentrations are generally not well defined, arsenic concentrations in biota
are usually <1 mglkg fresh weight except near sources of arsenic pollution (Eisler 1988, 1994). (Dry-weight concentrations,
such as those shown above, are generally several times higher than fresh-weight concentrations, although no reliable
conversion factor can be defined.)

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In Texas, Clark et al. (in press) reported what
they believed to be the highest concentrations
of arsenic found in tadpoles (6.87 mg As/kg
ww). Their report provides a good review of
information concerning arsenic (as well as
chromium and zinc) in amphibians and
reptiles. Tadpoles were collected in 1994 from
areas immediately downstream from
Finfeather Lake, which had been directly
contaminated during 53 years of industrial
production of arsenic-based cotton defoliants.
No tadpoles were found in Finfeather Lake,
probably because arsenic, chromiwn, or zinc
concentrations there were still toxic, even
though contaminated sediments had been
removed about 10 years earlier.

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Dead and blind turtles (red-eared sllider,
Trachemys scripta, and common snapper,
Chelydra serpentina) were found at Finfeather

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Lake in 1973, when waterborne arsenic
concentrations in the lake averaged 7.9 milli-
grams per liter (mg/L) (Cearley 1973). The
turtles showed symptoms similar to those of
arsenic-poisoned domestic mammals. These
included keratinization (leathery appearance)
of the eyelids, nasal areas, and roof of the
mouth. The nasal passages of one turtle were
completely occluded with the keratinized
tissue, forcing the turtle to breathe through its
mouth. Clark et a1. (in press) observed no
turtles or snakes in Pinfeather Lake in 1994 or
1995, leading them to speculate that few or
none were present.

Fish populations in Pinfeather Lake also were
affected (Cearley 1973, Sorensen et a1. 1985).
Green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) in the system
exhibited liver pathology related to arsenic.
In 1991, Cantu et al. (1991) found that

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