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Acute Toxicity of Firefighting Chemical Formulations to Four Life Stages of Fathead Minnow

Conclusion

Concentrations of firefighting chemicals in their field mixtures, if accidently spilled in aquatic ecosystems, would cause substantial mortality of warm-water fish such as fathead minnow. Mortality of fish in a water body would probably continue to occur until the concentration of the firefighting chemical was reduced by dilution to a concentration substantially less than the acute toxicity values given in this report. In one case, the dilution would have to be as much as 150,000-fold. Fish communities in warm-water ecosystems could be adversely affected by entry of firefighting chemicals, especially in ponds or lakes where dilution would be slow.

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