University of Guelph, School of Environmental Sciences, Guelph, ON, Canada.
Ecotoxicology. 2020 Nov;29(9):1377-1389. doi: 10.1007/s10646-020-02274-5. Epub 2020 Aug 31.
Past firefighting water additives were found to contain perfluorinated compounds that could persist in the environment resulting in potential adverse effects to biota. Since this revelation, manufacturers have introduced alternative firefighting water additives that are fluorine free, but few studies have investigated the fate and effects in the environment of these new additives. Firefighting water additives could enter aquatic ecosystems through run-off, leaching or direct application. Therefore, there is a need to investigate the potential effect that firefighting water additives could have on aquatic biota. This study investigated the toxicity of six firefighting water additives: Eco-Gel™, Thermo-Gel™, FireAde™, Fire-Brake™, Novacool Foam™, and F-500™ to aquatic biota. The toxicities of firefighting water additives to Lemna minor (duckweed), Daphnia magna (water flea), Hexagenia spp. larvae (mayfly), Lampsilis fasciola (wavy-rayed lampmussel) and Oncorhynchus mykiss (rainbow trout) were investigated through acute and chronic static and semi-static tests to estimate LC50 values for survival and EC50 values for immobility and/or reproduction endpoints. A large variation in toxicities among the firefighting water additives and among the test species was observed. Based on a worst-case exposure scenario of direct application, several firefighting water additives were found to pose a hazard to aquatic organisms. An exposure rate representative of a direct overhead application by a water bomber during a forest fire was used in the hazard assessment. For example, the hazard quotients determined for the D. magna acute toxicity tests ranged from 0.20 for Eco-Gel to 317 for F-500 in the forest pool (15 cm) scenario. This study presents the first deterministic risk assessment of firefighting water additives in aquatic ecosystems.
过去的消防水添加剂中被发现含有全氟化合物，这些化合物可能会在环境中持续存在，从而对生物群产生潜在的不利影响。自这一发现以来，制造商已经推出了无氟的替代消防水添加剂，但很少有研究调查这些新添加剂在环境中的归宿和影响。消防水添加剂可能通过径流、浸出或直接应用进入水生生态系统。因此，有必要调查消防水添加剂可能对水生生物群产生的潜在影响。本研究调查了六种消防水添加剂对水生生物的毒性：Eco-Gel™、Thermo-Gel™、FireAde™、Fire-Brake™、Novacool Foam™和 F-500™。通过急性和慢性静态和半静态试验，研究了消防水添加剂对浮萍（浮萍）、大型水蚤（水蚤）、Hexagenia spp.幼虫（蜉蝣）、Lampsilis fasciola（波纹射线灯贻贝）和Oncorhynchus mykiss（虹鳟鱼）的毒性，以估计生存的 LC50 值和无活动和/或繁殖终点的 EC50 值。消防水添加剂和测试物种之间的毒性存在很大差异。根据直接应用的最坏情况暴露情景，发现几种消防水添加剂对水生生物构成危害。在危害评估中使用了代表水轰炸机在森林火灾期间直接进行头顶应用的暴露率。例如，在森林水池（15 cm）情景下，Eco-Gel 的 D. magna 急性毒性试验确定的危害系数范围为 0.20 至 F-500 的 317。本研究首次对水生生态系统中的消防水添加剂进行了确定性风险评估。
