Acute toxicology to an estuarine teleost of mixtures of cadmium, copper and zinc salts

Effects of mixtures of chloride salts of cadmium, copper and zinc on survival, whole body residues, and histopathology of mummichog, Fundulus heteroclitus (L.), were investigated in synthetic sea water at 20‰ salinity and 20°C. Mixtures of Cu2+ and Zn2+ as indicated by 96 h bioassay studies produced more deaths than expected on the basis of toxicities of individual components. Concentrations of Cd2+ not ordinarily lethal exerted a negative effect on survival of fish intoxicated by salts of copper, zinc, or both. Atomic absorption determinations of Cd, Cu, and Zn residues in mummichog which survived 96 h exposures to each of these toxicants provided useful indices of total body burdens for these metals. Residues from survivors held in mixtures, especially Cd2+ and Zn2+ mixtures, did not conform to patterns observed for single elements. Whole body aggregates of Cd, Cu, and Zn from dead mummichogs were of limited worth owing to possible accumulation of these metals from the medium after death. Renal and lateral line canal lesions were noted in all fish subjected to copper concentrations of 1 mg/1 and higher. Renal lesions observed in fish immersed in mixtures of Cu2+ and Cd2+ assumed a damage pattern characteristic of Cd2+; with mixtures of Cu2+ and Zn2+, lesion were typical of Cu2+‐induced damage. Lesions induced in lateral line epithelium by Cu2+ were not affected by either Cd2+ or Zn2+. Epithelia lining the oral cavity were necrotized by the caustic action of high levels of Zn2+ (60 mg/1) and of Cu2+ (8 mg/1).