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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stuttgart, Arkansas » Harry K. Dupree Stuttgart National Aquaculture Research Cntr » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #197875
Title: ENVIRONMENTAL FATE AND EFFECTS OF AGRICULTURE THERAPEUTANT POTASSIUM PERMANGANATE: SUMMARY OF TIER III (MESOCOSM) STUDIES

Author
item Hobbs, Melissa
item GRIPPO, R - ASU
item FARRIS, J - ASU
item Griffin, Billy
item Ludwig, Gerald
item HARDING, L - ASU

Submitted to: Arkansas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/15/2006
Publication Date: 2/3/2006
Citation: Hobbs, M.S., Grippo, R.S., Farris, J.L., Griffin, B.R., Ludwig, G.M., Harding, L.L. 2006. Environmental fate and effects of agriculture therapeutant potassium permanganate: Summary of tier III (mesocosm) studies [abstract]. Arkansas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting. p. 13.

Interpretive Summary: Potassium permanganate is a widely used freshwater aquaculture drug for the treatment and prevention of waterborne parasitic, bacterial and fungal diseases. However, it is not approved by the USFDA for use as a therapeutant. Experiments were conducted and found little difference in the chemical’s affect on a variety of organisms between when it is used in clean water or pond water. When the chemical was applied at 1X, 3X and 5X the recommended application rate at several times throughout the year, the two higher dosages resulted in 100% mortality of fingerling catfish. Even the 1X recommended dosage caused some minor differences in the amount of dissolved oxygen and decreased certain zooplankton populations. The detrimental effects in pond water treated at recommended levels lasted less than three days.

Technical Abstract: Potassium permanganate is a widely used freshwater aquaculture drug for the treatment and prevention of waterborne parasitic, bacterial and fungal diseases. However, it is not approved by the USFDA for use as a therapeutant. One of the requirements for approval is an ecological risk assessment. This research will be used to develop that assessment. The observed toxicity to standard testing organisms was lower in pond water than in than in clean, moderately hard synthetic test water for acute exposure but for chronic exposure there was little difference between the types of water. Treated pond sediment produced median lethality values of 10—14 g/kg. Simulated ponds (mesocosms) stocked with fingerling catfish were treated at 1X, 3X and 5X recommended levels with 3 replicates of each treatment. All fish died in the two highest levels. Zooplankton abundance was significantly reduced 24 hr after the chemical was applied for all treatments but recovered in most cases by 48 hours. When a variety of test animals (fish and invertebrates) were exposed to water and sediment a week after treatment no significant detrimental affect was found. The results suggest that at recommended application rates potassium permanganate will have a detrimental affect on some aspects of pond ecology by these effects disappear within 48 hour.