Acute toxicity of poly- and perfluorinated compounds to two cladocerans, Daphnia magna and Chydorus sphaericus

With their global distribution, environmental persistence, and potential risk to human beings and ecosystems, poly- and perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) are of particular concern for research and regulatory communities. However, insufficient toxicity data are available for most poly- and perfluorinated compounds to assess their possible environmental hazards accurately. Therefore, the acute toxicity of seven poly- and perfluorinated carboxylic acids and alcohols on two cladocerans, Daphnia magna and Chydorus sphaericus, was evaluated in the present study. The adverse effects of these PFCs on these two cladocerans decreased with increasing fluorinated carbon chain length (nC) and quantitative structure–activity relationships were developed to quantify this observation. Because the 50% inhibition effects (EC50) values obtained are far above concentrations typically found in surface water, acute harmful effects of these chemicals to D. magna and C. sphaericus are not expected in the real environment. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2012;31:605–610. © 2011 SETAC