Correlation of metal ion toxicities to mice

Recently reported correlations of acute ip LD50 metal ion toxicities to mice by Turner et al. (1983), have been re-investigated using the ion-specific parameters reported by Kaiser (1980) for sublethal metal ion toxicities to Daphnia magna. For the 15 ions with partially or completely filled d-shells, Rh(III), Fe(III), Cr(III), Mn(II), Co(II), Pd(II), Ni(II), Au(III), Zn(II), Pt(II), Ag(I), Cu(II), In(III), Hg(II), and Cd(II), a correlation coefficient of r2 = 0.76 is found. This is a significant improvement over the value of r2 = 0.36 observed for the 14 divalent metal ions by Turner et al. with the softness parameter sigma as the independent variable. This re-investigation proves the applicability of the ionization potential and redox potential derived parameters for the quantitative correlation of metal ion toxicities to both aquatic and terrestrial biota.