Benzenesulfonic acid, mono-C10-13-alkyl derivs., potassium salts

Toxicity to aquatic algae and cyanobacteria

Key value for chemical safety assessment

EC50 for freshwater algae:

29 mg/L

EC10 or NOEC for freshwater algae:

0.5 mg/L

Additional information

A study was conducted to determine the toxicity of the read-across substance benzenesulfonic acid C10-13-alkyl derivs., sodium salts to aquatic algae and cyanobacteria according to the method of "Payne AG, Hall RH, 1979, in Aquatic Toxicology, ASTM, STP 667" and the US EPA method "The Selenastrum capricornutum Printz algal assay" (1978). Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata was exposed to the test substance at nominal concentrations of 0, 16, 32, 63, 125, 250, 500, and 1000 mg/L in the first test and of 0.1, 1.0, 5.0, and 10 mg/L in the second test for 96 h under static conditions. Growth was recorded in terms of cell density throughout the experiment. In all test concentrations >1.0 mg/L, the algal cells were abnormally large and malformed. Because of this observation, algae previously exposed to 1000 mg/L were tested for their ability to recover. Their growth was similar to the growth of the control during a 9 -day recovery period in test substance-free medium, and the algal cells had returned to normal appearance. Under the study conditions, the nominal 96 h EC50 and NOEC of the substance in aquatic algae were determined to be 29.0 mg/L and 0.5 mg/L respectively (Larson, 1982).