Influence of dissolved organic carbon on the acute toxicity of copper and zinc to white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and a cladoceran (Ceriodaphnia dubia).

We conducted acute lethality tests with white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and Ceriodaphnia dubia exposed to copper and zinc at dissolved organic carbon concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 5.5 mg/L. Dissolved organic carbon had minimal effects on zinc toxicity but did have a protective effect on acute copper toxicity, which was equal to that predicted by the copper biotic ligand model (BLM). The BLM-adjusted copper median effect concentrations for A. transmontanus ranged from 2.4 to 8.2 mg/L. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;00:1-6. Published 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC. This article is a US government work, and as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.