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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stuttgart, Arkansas » Harry K. Dupree Stuttgart National Aquaculture Research Cntr » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #180923
Title: COMPARATIVE TOXICITY OF POTASSIUM PERMANGANATE TO NON-TARGET AQUATIC ORGANISMS

Author
item Hobbs, Melissa
item GRIPPO, RICHARD - ARKANSAS STATE UNIV.
item FARRIS, JERRY - ARKANSAS STATE UNIV.
item Griffin, Billy
item HARDING, LORA - ASU

Submitted to: Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/25/2006
Publication Date: 11/1/2006
Citation: Hobbs, M.S., Grippo, R.S., Farris, J.L., Griffin, B.R., Harding, L.L. 2006. Comparative toxicity of potassium permanganate to non-target aquatic organisms. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. v.25(11):175-181.

Interpretive Summary: Potassium permanganate is a widely used chemical for the treatment and prevention of fish diseases. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is interested in the potential environmental risk associated with the use of potassium permanganate in food fish production. Limited information exists concerning the effect water discharged from potassium permanganate treated aquaculture ponds may have on the natural environment. In laboratory water with low organic content, the recommended potassium permanganate treatment rate of at least 2.0 mg/L or 2.5 times the water’s Potassium Permanganate Demand (an estimation of the organic content) would be toxic to non-target organisms, suggesting significant environmental risk. Repeating these laboratory tests using water with higher organic content from typical aquaculture ponds, however, resulted in significantly reducing the toxicity of potassium permanganate to non-target organisms. Tests using the water discharged from potassium permanganate exposed aquaculture systems are planned to assess the environmental risk of typical post-treatment delayed releases to natural water systems.

Technical Abstract: Potassium permanganate (KMn04) is a widely used freshwater pond aquaculture drug for the treatment and prevention of waterborne external parasitic, bacterial and fungal diseases. However, KMn04 is not yet approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration because more information is needed on the environmental risk of KMn04 exposures. Limited data exist concerning the toxicity of KMn04 to non-target species in systems receiving aquaculture effluent from treated ponds. The goal of this research is to generate effects data for use in developing an ecological risk assessment of potassium permanganate. Toxicity tests were used to compare the relative sensitivities of five standard aquatic test species to KMn04. Acute toxicity test results using synthetic mod-hard water show static 96hr mean LC50 values (+ SD) of 0.058 + 0.006 mg/L (Ceriodaphnia dubia), 0.053 + 0.009 mg/L (Daphnia magna), 2.13 + 0.07 mg/L (Pimephales promelas), 4.74 + 1.05 mg/L (Hyalella azteca) and 4.43 + 0.79 mg/L (Chironomus tentans). Most of these values are below the recommended KMn04 treatment rate of at least 2.0 mg/L or 2.5 times the water’s Potassium Permanganate Demand (an estimation of the available reducing agents in the exposure water) suggesting significant environmental risk. However, repeating these laboratory tests using pond water, resulted in significantly reduced toxicity, with static 96hr LC50 values of 2.39 + 0.36 mg/L (Ceriodaphia dubia), 1.98 + 0.12 mg/L (Daphnia magna), 11.22 + 1.07 mg/L (Pimephales promelas), 13.55 + 2.24 mg/L (Hyalella azteca) and 12.30 + 2.83 mg/L (Chironomus tentans ). The Potassium Permanganate Demand (PPD) of synthetic mod-hard was 0.329 + 0.114 mg/L however the pond water PPD was 5.357 + 0.967 mg/L. The effective disease-treating dose based on 2.5 x PPD would thus be 0.823 mg KMnO4/L and 13.392 mg KMnO4/L, respectively, exceeding the LC50 for most of these non-target organisms, even in pond water, immediately after treatment. Tests utilizing the effluent from KMn04 exposed aquaculture systems are planned to assess the environmental safety of typical post-treatment delayed releases to receiving waters.