Chemical and toxicological properties of coal fly ash - University of ...

1972). Cadmium is a dangerous cumulative poison. A concentration factorof up to 1,000 has been reported (National Academy of Science, 1973).Several authors have measured Cd uptake by freshwater organisms. Theaccumulation of Cd by freshwater fish has been studied in white catfish,IctaZurms catus (Rowe and Massaro, 1974) ; goldfish, Camssius aumtus(Marafante, 1976); bluegill, Lepomis macrochirus (Mount and Stephan, 1967;Eaton, 1974) ; zebra fish, Brachydanio rerio (Rehwolt and Karimi an-Teherani ,76) ; stickleback, Gasterosteus aeuZeatus (Pascoe and Mattey, 1977) ;guppy, Poecilia reticulata (Ki nkade and Erdman, 1975) ; brook trout,SaZueZinu fontirrzlis (Benoi t et a1 . , 1976) ; rainbow trout, SaZm gairdneri(Kumada et a1 . , 1973) ; and 1 argemouth bass, Micropterus salmaides (Cearleyand Coleman, 1974). Very little Cd is accumulated in the edible portionsof fishes; it is usually concentrated in the gills, liver, and kidneys.Cadmium in fishes, therefore, does not appear to represent a hazard tohuman consumers. However, oysters, abalone, and mussels are capable ofaccumulating extremely high levels of Cd in edible portions (Phillips andRusso, 1978).Manganese has a relatively low tendency for bioaccumulation in freshwateranganese has a low toxicity to humans, but poisonings haveoccurred from excessive exposures to Mn in plants (Berry et a1 . , 1974).ronic poisoning may result from the inhalation of Mn compounds (Sullivan,69). Manganese has been detected in marine and freshwater fishes and haseen shown to be accumulated via the food chain in marine and freshwaterinvertebrates. However, Mn appears to be a relatively nonhazardous elementin most waters due to the low toxicity of Mn to humans and aquatic life(Phi 11 ips and Russo, 1978).Molybdenum has a low bioaccumulative tendency in fish. Bioaccumulation ofMo by lake trout, SaZveZims nzmycush, was studied by Tong et al. (1974).Molybdenum compounds exhibit a low order of toxicity for exposed workers(American Conference of Governmental and Industrial Hygienists, 1974).Molybdenum does not tend to accumulate in the edible portions of fish andhas a relatively low toxicity to humans (Phillips and Russo, 1978).A1 though Ni is present in considerable amounts in plant and animal tissues,dietary intake of Ni is not harmful to humans. Workers exposed to Ni maydevelop a sensitivity to it and even dermatitis. Because of Nik low toxicityto humans, almost no information is available on the accumulation of Ni byaquatic organisms (Phillips and Russo, 1978).In industrial situations Ni dust has been shown to cause lung and nasal cancersin exposed workers (Do11,1958), and Ni metal can cause eczema i ti sensitizedworkers (Browning, 1969). Nickel carbonyl, an intermediate in the nickelrefining process (also found in cigarette smoke and a possible product of theincomplete combustion of coal), can cause cancer in rats and humans andrepresents the primary nickel related hazard to human health (Sunderman andDonnelly, 1965; Schroeder, 1970). The low toxicity of nickel when orallyingested has been demonstrated for several animals (Underwood, 1971). Nickelconstantly occurs in food, many waters, and all forms of life, both marine andterrestrial (Bowen, 1966).The results of this study demonstrated that fly ash extracts were acutely toxicto fathead minnows and that various trace elements are accumlated in both