Ecotoxicological risks of calcium nitrate exposure to freshwater tropical organisms: Laboratory and field experiments

• Ceriodaphnia silvestrii: 48 h-EC50=76.72 (67.32–86.12) mg N-NO3− L−1.
• Ceriodaphnia silvestrii: 7d-IC25=5.05 (4.35–5.75) mg N-NO3− L−1.
• Chironomus xanthus: 96 h-EC50=296.46 (277.16–315.76) mg N-NO3− L−1.
• Chironomus xanthus: 20d-IC25=28.73 (26.30–31.15) mg N-NO3− L−1.
• No acute effect was observed to C. silvestrii and C. xanthus in treated mesocosms.

This study aimed to analyze laboratory and field data to assess the ecotoxicological risks of calcium nitrate exposure to freshwater tropical biota. Short-term laboratorial tests resulted in estimated EC50 values of 76.72 (67.32–86.12) mg N-NO3-NO3- L−1 for C. silvestrii and 296.46 (277.16–315.76) mg N-NO3-NO3- L−1 for C. xanthus. Long-term laboratorial tests generated IC25 values of 5.05 (4.35-5.75) and 28.73 (26.30–31.15) mg N-NO3-NO3- L−1 for C. silvestrii and C. xanthus, respectively. The results from in situ mesocosm experiments performed in the Ibirité reservoir (a tropical eutrophic urban water body located in SE Brazil) indicated that C. silvestrii and C. xanthus were not under severe deleterious acute impact due to the treatment because the higher nitrate concentrations determined were 5.2 mg N-NO3-NO3- L−1 (t=24 h; sediment-water interface) and 17.5 mg N-NO3-NO3- L−1 (t=600 h; interstitial water). However, an abrupt decrease in the densities of Cyanophyceae members and other benthic taxa was observed. In summary, the present work contributes greatly to the toxicity data linked to two taxonomically distinct organisms that have never been screened for calcium nitrate sensitivity. Furthermore, considering the problem of the management and restoration of eutrophic environments, our study reports a comprehensive field assessment that allows the elucidation of the possible toxic impacts caused by the addition of calcium nitrate (a remediation technique) on aquatic and benthic organisms as well as the implications on the aquatic ecosystem as a whole, which may greatly allow expanding the current knowledgebase on the topic.