Effects of nonylphenol on zooplankton in aquatic microcosms.
We investigated the effects of the endocrine disruptor nonylphenol (NP) on the zooplankton assemblages of 230 L aquatic microcosms during a four-week preapplication period, a six-week NP treatment via controlled release, and a six-week postapplication period. Zooplankton assemblage change, investigated by ordination principal response curves (PRC), was due to lower abundances of copepoda, rotifera, and cladocera. The most sensitive groups/taxa were copepoda larvae, followed by the rotifers Synchaeta spp., Polyarthra spp., and the cladocerans Daphnia longispina and Chydorus sphaericus. The mean no-observed-effect concentrations for the community (NOEC(community)) was 30 microg/L. Cladocera densities recovered during the postapplication period at all but the highest NP concentrations (maximum 120 microg/L); copepod densities did not recover at the three highest concentrations (maximum 96-120 microg/L).
Institute of Ecological Chemistry, GSF-National Research Center for Environment and Health, Ingolstaedter Landstrasse 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany. severin@alumni.tum.de
Gabriele E
GE
Severin
Gerhard
G
Welzl
Ingrid
I
Jüttner
Gerd
G
Pfister
Karl-Werner
KW
Schramm
D000818:Animals; D033361:Cladocera; D033342:Copepoda; D007814:Larva; D010636:Phenols / Q000633:toxicity*; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012403:Rotifera; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D015048:Zooplankton
D010636:Phenols; D014873:Water Pollutants; C025256:nonylphenol