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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