Water quality criteria for European freshwater fish. Report on chromium and freshwater fish. EIFAC Technical Paper. No. 43.
This report, prepared by the European Inland Fisheries Research Advisory Commission Working Party on Water Quality Criteria for European Freshwater Fish, critically reviews the literature on the occurrende and effects of chromium in fresh water. It lists and discusses the sources of chromium, and its chemistry and analysis in fresh water. The mode of action of chromium and the factors which affect its short- and long-term toxicity to the various life-cycle stages of fish are dealt with in detail. Similar information for plants and invertebrates is considered and evidence for the accumulation of the metal in animals is reviewed. The tentative water-quality criteria proposed distinguish between salmonid and non-salmonid waters but, in order to protect sensitive species of invertebrates, it is recommended that criteria for salmonid waters should be used to cover the majority of waters. The conditions under which more or less stringent standards may be appropriate are indicated. To protect salmonid waters, the mean aqueous concentration of 'soluble' chromium should not exceed 0.025 mg Cr/l and the 95-percentille should not exceed 0.1 Mg Cr/l.