Winter third- to fourth-instar larvae of Chironomus plumosus as bioassay tools for assessment of acute toxicity of metals and their binary combinations.

The ecotoxicological effect expressed as mortality of four metal ions (Cd, Cu, Zn, Al) and their associations on winter third- to fourth-instar larvae of Chironomus plumosus was determined. The effect of individual metals was introduced as acute toxicological effect and expressed as LC(50) and LC95 values with 95% intervals of confidence. On the basis of the LC50 values the toxicity of metals after 96 h treatment was ranked Cu>>Cd>Zn>Al. Copper was at least 100 times more toxic than other metals tested. When the acute toxic effect of metal pairs was observed, in general, deleterious effects were directly proportional to metal concentrations. The toxicity of metals in combinations was different from that of individual metals, because of either antagonism or synergism. From the results obtained it can be concluded that when in metal pairs in which the original metal (the metal for which the interaction was determined) is at the lower concentration (Cd 10 mg x L(-1), Zn 25 mg x L(-1), Al 25 mg x L(-1), Cu 0.1 mg x L(-1)), the prevailing interaction is synergism (mortality was higher for metal combinations than for individual metals). Except for an overadditive effect (synergism), additivity was also confirmed in some cases (Al25+Cd10; Al25+Cd25; Al25+Cu0.1; Cu0.1+Cd10; Cu0.1+Cd25; Cu0.1+Al50). Synergism, in combinations in which the original metal is at the higher concentration (Cd 25 mg x L(-1), Zn 50 mg x L(-1), Al 50 mg x L(-1), Cu 1.0 mg x L(-1)), was observed only for the pairs Zn50+Al25 and Zn50+Cu1.0. Reciprocal additivity was observed after 96 h of treatment only for the combination Zn50+Al50. For all other binary combinations in which the original metal was at the higher concentration, an antagonistic effect was confirmed.