Identification of ammonia as an important sediment-associated toxicant in the lower fox River and green bay, Wisconsin

Abstract Toxicity of sediment pore water from 13 sites in the lower Fox River/Green Bay watershed was assessed using a number of test species. Sediment pore water from the 10 lower Fox River sites exhibited acute toxicity to fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) and Ceriodaphnia dubia, and pore water samples from all 13 sites were chronically toxic to C. dubia. Sediment pore water from seven of the sampling sites was toxic to Selenastrum capricornutum, but none of the samples were toxic to Photobacterium phosphoreum. Toxicity characterization, identification and confirmation procedures indicated that a significant amount of the acute toxicity of the pore water to fathead minnows and C. dubia was due to ammonia. The identification of ammonia, a naturally occurring compound in sediments, as a potentially important sediment-associated toxicant has implications for sediment toxicity assessment and control, not only in the Fox River and Green Bay, but in other freshwater and marine systems as well.