Citation

Barber TR, Lutes CC, Doorn MR, Fuchsman PC, Timmenga HJ, Crouch RL. Chemosphere 2003; 50(3): 343-348.

Affiliation

ARCADIS, 26451 Curtiss Wright Parkway, Cleveland, OH 44143, USA. tbarber@arcadis-us.com

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12656253

Abstract

Aquatic toxicity due to the creation and mobilization of chemical constituents by fire has been little studied, despite reports of post-fire fish kills attributed to unspecified pyrogenic toxicants. We examined releases of cyanides from biomass burning and their effect on surface runoff water. In laboratory test burns, available cyanide concentrations in leachate from residual ash were much higher than in leachate from partially burned and unburned fuel and were similar to or higher than the 96-h median lethal concentration (LC50) for rainbow trout (45 microg/l). Free cyanide concentrations in stormwater runoff collected after a wildfire in North Carolina averaged 49 microg/l, again similar to the rainbow trout LC50 and an order of magnitude higher than in samples from an adjacent unburned area. Pyrogenic cyanide inputs, together with other fire-related stressors, may contribute to post-fire fish mortalities, particularly those affecting salmonids.

Language: en