Whole-body arsenic concentrations in rainbow trout during acute exposure to arsenate

This research explored the influence of temperature and waterborne arsenate exposure level on the whole-body arsenic (As) concentration in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) at loss of equilibrium (LOE), an acute toxicity endpoint. The mean median times (ET50s) to LOE for fish exposed to 120 mg arsenate liter-1 at 5 degrees C, as well as 60 and 120 mg liter-1 at 15 degrees C were 56.8, 210, and 34.8 hr, respectively. Despite the differences in ET50, the fish showed respective mean (SE) whole-body As concentrations of 8.6 (0.3), 8.1 (0.6), and 8.6 (0.4) micrograms As g-1, values which were not significantly different. Fish exposed to 240 mg arsenate liter-1 at 5 degrees C, which had a LOE ET50 of 32.2 hr, were observed to have a mean (SE) whole-body arsenic concentration of 13.5 micrograms g-1, significantly higher than the levels in fish from all other treatments. A 3-hr delay between LOE and sampling did not significantly alter whole-body As concentration. The results are discussed in terms of the utility of using whole-body As concentrations to interpret the impacts of arsenate on fish populations in the field.