Bulletin


STATE OF ILLINOIS

DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRATION AND EDUCATION

DIVISION OF THE

NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY
STEPHEN A. FORBES. Chief

Vol. XIII. BULLETIN Article II.

WAYS AND MEANS OF MEASURING THE
DANGERS OF POLLUTION TO

FISHERIES

VICTOR E. SHELFORD

PRINTED BY AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS

URBANA, ILLINOIS

September, 1918



ScHNEPP & Barxes. State Printep.s

Springfield, III.

1918.

8525—1200



ERRATA
Page 97, line 17, for first larval read puital.

Page 112, in legend, for jonessi read jonesii.

Page 114, in legend, for or read of.

Page 125, line 4, for Bonosa read Bonasa.

Page 131, in legend, for Jiirundinaceus read hirudinaceus.

Page 138, last line, for coccoon read cocoon.

Plate XII, explanation page, next to last line, for acrivora read aerivora.

Plate XIII, explanation page, next to last line, for WMte-gruhs read White-gruh.

Page 293, Figure 5a was reversed in printing, and the two items of the legend

should change places.

Page 515, second table, for Pelocoris femorata read Pelocoris femoratus.



Article II.

—

IVays and Mea>is of mcasuriyui the Dangers of Pol-
lution to Fisheries. Rv Victor E, Siielford.

Introduction

We are at war with a powerful and well-organized nation which has
planned and saved with war in view. In our belated endeavor to con-
serve existing resources and- to develop new and latent ones new problems
are constantly arising. Some of these concern fisheries and the pollution

of waters. The U. S. Fish Commission is urging the public to eat fish

—

to make every day a fish day. This was no doubt done in the early days
of our republic, for in a great strike of apprentices one of their chief

demands was that they be not fed on salmon more than three times a

week. The richness of the fish supply of our eastern states in their

early colonial days and for a considerable time thereafter is said to have
exceeded our wildest imagination. Meehan ('IT) quotes an early writer

who said of the shad in the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers : "They
came in such vast multitudes that the still waters seemed filled with

eddies, while the shallows were beaten into foam by them in their strug-

gles to reach the spawning grounds." They swarmed every spring from
mouth to headwaters of every river from Maine to Florida. Shad was
undoubtedly the most important food fish in the early days of our
nation; they were eaten fresh, and smoked and salted for winter use.

During the spring runs people traveled long distances to shoal waters to

obtain their winter's supply (Meehan, '17).

Along the Illinois River many years ago buffalo-fish afforded the

chief marketable species. These were caught by farmers, fishermen, and
others, and shipped by boat, principally to St. Louis. As no ice was used
the fish frequently spoiled, or they were thrown away because the

market was overloaded. Thus this great resource was depleted by care-

less and wasteful methods of catching and marketing (Bartlett, '17).

For a brief discussion of more recent decrease of bufifalo-fish in the

Illinois River see Richardson, '13a, p. 409.

The Atlantic salmon once entered all the rivers of New England;
now it is the most expensive fish on the market. Our Great Lakes once
yielded whitefish in abundance, but now the number is exceptionally small
in comparison. Some of our Pacific-coast fisheries are likewise being
depleted. Every stream formerly yielded fish to small boys and old-men
anglers. If any of these sources yielded half their original quantity it

would now be counted a veritable fortune in fish.

Our fish resources have been depleted through neglect, carelessness,

and the pollution af waters. Such as are still left are endangered by



26

new projects and new pollutions. There has hcen too much bald scientific

and business sophistry in the matter. Ichthyologists, biologists, engi-

neers, sanitarians, industrial chemists, and business men, without con-

sultation, cooperation, or critical analysis, have proceeded on the basis

of their imperfect and fragmentary knowledge to draw inferences as to

the effect of this or that on fishes. The inferences of some scientists are

not especially more in keeping with an equitable decision relative to a

policy favorable to the public interest than was the exclamation of a

manufacturer when confronted with a law intended to stop his factory

from polluting streams: "What! stop a great industry because of a few
fish !" The pollutions of manufacturing plants and city sewage have

greatly aggravated the depletion, or in some instances have completed

the destruction, previously started by heedless fishermen ; but the pollu-

tions are far more serious than the initial injury because they preclude

the possibility of easy recovery. We have all sinned alike until it

becomes imperative that we take stock of our knowledge, now that we
are under the pressure of numerous problems demanding immediate solu-

tion because of the great war. Some means of approximately measuring

the harm which pollutions do, is needed at once. Our knowledge of the

subject is incomplete and unorganized. A number of crucial questions

have frequently called for answers in the past few months, and it is the

purpose of this paper to state these problems, to emphasize the need for

further definite investigation for their solution, and to give a general

indication of the trend of existing data bearing on them. The general

subject of the relation of aquatic animals to the physical and chemical

conditions of their environment has only recently begun to receive syste-

matic attention. (Birge and Juday, '11; Forbes and Richardson, '13

;

Shelford, '17, '18.) The tables here included are provisional and incom-

plete, but they indicate what kind of tables would be found highly useful

were the data for them in hand, and they also indicate the pressing need

for further investigation.

The writer wishes to express here his indebtedness to Mr. E. B.

Powers and Mr. W. D. Hatfield for assistance in preparing this paper.

Nine Crucial Questions in Connection with Problems of

Pollution in Relation to Useful Aquatic Animals

On the basis of the author's personal studies, an examination of the

literature of the subject, and discussion with persons engaged in several

related lines of investigation, an attempt is here made to point out means
of answering nine crucial questions, relating to the survival, well-being,

abundance, and quality of useful aquatic animals, which are intimately

associated with the question of the economical use of wastes and the satis-

factory disposal of such effluents as can not be worked up. But the final

practical solution of so complex a problem calls for something more than

a knowledge of the toxicity of wastes and the best methods for deter-

mining it, and insistence on the preservation .of food and breeding



grounds ; it imperatively demands that in calculating values a standard
shall be set which applies to the countr\- as a whole rather than to a mere
group of individuals (Austin, '1'^).

/. Is the animal used in testing the toxicity nf a polluting subsfancc
one of representative sensitiveness?

The resistance of different useful aquatic animals to polluting sub-
stances varies greatly, as does also that of their living food. In the
case of fish, for example, it is not sufificient to secure for making tests

any fish that may be convenient. The fish used should be one of the more
sensitive ones. The tests of toxicity must of course be of a character to

determine means of affording protection to fish, but not to fish alone ; the
organisms on which they feed are commonly more sensitive than the
fishes themselves.

The following table gives an estimate of the relative resistance of
several widely distributed species of North American fishes. While it

needs careful verification by new methods, it will serve as a rough pro-
visional guide. It is based largely on death in waters containing little

oxygen and much carbon dioxide. Since fishes rank differently in

resistance according to the poison in which they are killed ( Shelford, 'IT,

p. 408), the immediate need for further investigation is obvious.

TAni.r, I

Indicating the relative resistance of a very sensitive minnow and of some
common game-fishes of the eastern and central United States and of the goldfish.
The resistance of the least resistant si)ecies is arbitrarily taken to he unity.
(After Wells, 'IS, except the orange-spotted sunfish and the goldfish.)

Species of fish
Relative
resistance

Species of fish

Labidesthes siceulus

( Brook silverside

)

Moxostoma aureolum
(Red-horse) i

Catostomus eommersonii
\

(Common sucker)

Micropterus dolomieu
\

(Small-mouthed black bass i:

M icropterus salmoides
( Large-mouthed black bass l

I'omoxi^ annularis
(White crappie)

Fomoxis sparoides
(Black crappie, Calico bass);

AmiloplUes rupestris
(Rock bass)

Perca flavescens
(Yellow or American perch

Lepomis humilis
(Orange-spotted sunfish)

Carassitis carassius
(Goldfish or Crucian carp)

Lepomis cyanellus
( Blue-spotted sunfish

)

.Ameitirus melas
(Black bullhead)

Choice of Animals used for Tests.—The common suckers, Catosto-

mus eommersonii Lac. or Moxostoma aureolum he S. are recommended



28

as suitable fresh-water animals for tests. They are widely distributed,

easy to obtain, and easy to recognize, and are representatively sensitive

(Forbes and Richardson, '08). It is also comparatively easy to deter-

mine accurately when an individual is dead. Powers found that to touch

the tip of the tail of a fish to HCl would determine whether or not it

was dead. As a representative fish food fresh-water shrimps (Palae-

monetes) may be used; they live all the time under water and fall over

readily when overcome, and the movement of the gill-bailer can be

readily seen and serves to show when death occurs. Shrimps are also

good in marine work (Shelford, '16, '16a). Hyalella knickerbockeri, a

common, small fresh-water amphipod, is perhaps one of the most widely

distributed fish foods, and as it is sensitive it will serve as a test animal

for fish foods.

Amount of Water.—Experience has shown that about one liter of

water should be used for each two grams' weight of individuals tested.

With non-volatile substances the diameter of the surface exposed should

be about equal to the depth of the water (Marsh, '07 ; Shelford, '17

;

Wells, '18; Powers, '18). Volatile substances should be added to run-

ning water (Shelford and Allee, '13; Shelford, '17; Wells, '18).

Time to Death.—For comparisons of toxicities, concentrations

which kill the animal in from fifty minutes to two hours should be used

(Shelford, '17; Powers, '18) ; for the short experiments, the temperature

should be constant ; and for safety tests, the fish should live for about a

month in the water. After two days in the small quantity of water, for

long experiments the animal should be transferred to aquaria with two
liters of water for each gram of fish (Marsh, '07).

//. What is the most sensitive stage in the life history of the test

animal and of any useful animal associated zvith it?

Tests of the minimum quantity of poison which will prove fatal must
be made on the most sensitive stage. The strength of a chain is the

strength of its weakest link. After a fish or other animal of representa-

tive resistance has been chosen, the results of tests have little or no sig-

nificance until the most sensitive period in the life history has been

determined. Of what importance is it merely to know that three parts of

naphthalene per million will kill an adult fish in one hour if some other

stage is twice as sensitive ? From this point of view only a little has been
accomplished in the study of poisons ; the most sensitive period is not

known for a single species of which the entire life cycle has been defi-

nitely studied (Wells, '16). It has merely been determined that to nearly

all toxic substances the younger or smaller fish, down to the smallest

fry, are more sensitive than older ones, and Child ('15) has found that

in the case of Tautogolabrus the resistance of the egg falls gradually

from the time of fertilization to the time of hatching, when a slight rise

occurs. His experiments were discontinued at this point. Investigation

of the minimum quantities of substance which will prove detrimental is

useless unless the experiment is conducted on the most sensitive stage. A



39

twenty-gram rock bass may be fifty to one hundred times more resistant

than the most sensitive stage in the egg or fry. This might be a safe

guess for shrimps also. To meet Illinois problems alone, there is imme-
diate need for a study of the entire life-cycle resistance of the suckers.

Choice of Stages to be tested and Frequency of Tests.—The early

stages should be tested at very short intervals. Artificially fertilized eggs

should be divided into lots and tested at intervals of fifteen minutes to

several hours (Child, '15, pp. 413-416).

Table II

Showing differences in sensitivity of various stages of several marine and
fresh-water animals. Most sensitive stage rated as 1. No basis for a comparison
of the species. Whitley's results are not comparable ivith those of the others, as
his experiments shoioed only abnormal development.

Species

Starfish



• 30

///. JVhoi is the pollution most concentrated?

In fresh water, pollution will, as a rule, be most concentrated during
seasons of drought or in extreme low-water in winter; but to this rule

there are many exceptions. Pollutions which float will do most damage
during storms or high winds. This source of danger is greatest in the

sea.

Effect of Winter Ice.—Ice in winter prevents aeration and hinders

circulation, and seems to have been responsible in Illinois for important
losses of fish due to pollution (Hansen and Hilscher, '16, 'JCa).

Effect of Temperature.—Many poisons are more toxic at high tem-
perature than at low (Warren, '00). Results soon to be published by
Powers confirm Warren's conclusions. Experiments should generally be

carried on when the water in question is at the usual seasonal tempera-
ture, though some tests should always be made at its maximum tempera-
ture. Some of the relative-resistance work on adult fishes at different

seasons of the year may have been vitiated to some extent by too little

regard to the temperature factor, thus yielding somewhat exaggerated
differences of resistance in the comparisons made (Wells, '16). Temper-
ature has direct effects also (Wells, '14).

Effect of Oxygen.—An abundant supply of dissolved oxygen re-

duces the toxicity of some substances-^of CO2, for example (Wells, '13

;

Shelford, '18b).

IV. What is the toxicity of untreated polluting effluents; of each

residual of processes of partial recovery; or of treatment by additions to

the effluent

F

One essential in dealing with pollution problems lies in the deter-

mination of the toxicity of the various constituents of the polluting sub-

stance and of the wastes or residues resulting either from operations

—

present or prospective—for the recovery of useful substances or from
methods of treating the effluent. This is imperative, for partial-recovery

methods may give rise to substances as residues or secondary by-products

which are as toxic as the original waste, or even more so. As a case in

point I may mention a personal study of a large series of representative

constituents of gas wastes which I began in 1914. This investigation

showed that all the essential components are so highly toxic that no
method of partial recovery can be relied upon to protect fishes. The least

suspected substances, some rated as insoluble, were among the most toxic

—for example, CO, benzene, and naphthalene (Shelford, '17; Wells, '18).

The proposed plan of treating the sewage of Boston and Chicago

and other cities of more than 50,000 inhabitants by the Miles acid process

(Weston, '16) in order to recover grease, ammonia, and glycerine, and
to leave a strongly acid effluent which, in the case of Boston and other

coast towns, would provide a sterile medium for oyster-beds, is a matter

demanding very careful investigation, since acids I -— I are fatal, or

essentially so, to the eggs of such marine animals as have been tested with



31

them. Moore and others ('05), in experiments with acids and altcalies

found that the addition of a very Httle acid checked or stopped develop-

ment in sea-urchin's eggs, while much more alkali could be used without

ill effects. This conclusion was confirmed by Whitley's experiments with

the eggs of the plaice, one of the flatfishes. After using several acids and
several alkalies Whitley concluded ('05) that the deleterious effect on
these eggs was due to hydrogen and hydroxyl ions. The earlier work of

Loeb ('98, '04) as well as that of Medes ('18) showed the same thing.

For the relative toxicities of salts and acids see Table III ; note that

HCl is 404 times as toxic as common salt.

The addition of acid to water is accompanied by the liberation of

COj. This may be released from carbonates in quantities very harmful
to fishes. Methyl-orange acidity is nearly always fatal to them (Marsh,
'07 ; Wells, '15). In all such cases the precise hydrogen ion concentration

should be determined, but the concentration fatal to the various stages

must not be neglected. Limestone is often used to neutralize acid, some-
times to doubtful advantage. Table III shows the relative toxicity of a
number of different compounds in distilled water. The table is incom-
plete and based on the work of several authors. Further investigation is

needed along this line.



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3.3

When these substances are introduced in water in which salts are

already in solution the results are sometimes not in agreement with those

obtained when the substances are in solution alone. CO, renders some
salts less toxic. One salt often renders another less toxic or may neutral-

ize its effect. On the other hand, combinations are sometimes more toxic

than the individual constituents alone. Wells found that a little HCl
reduced the toxicity of common salt to about one-third. Ammonia salts

are harmless to some fishes in the absence of carbonates but toxic in

their presence. This subject is too complicated and knowledge too

meager to justify inferences as to the effect of mixtures of salts in

streams. Organic compounds are often more toxic in the presence of

salts. For data on this subject see Clowes. '17
; Lillie, '12

; Loeb, '06. '12
:

Osterhout, '14, '14a, '16
; Powers, '18

; and Spaeth, '17. Osterhout ('14a )

has constructed important curves showing some of the most antagonistic

mixtures of salts. »

The toxicity of residuals of partial recovery may be determined

directly if the process of treatment is in operation; if not, and if the

character of the residuals is not known it is necessary to take a series of

the representative constituents in a pure state, and to make tests of their

toxicity. When this has been done it will usually be possible to foresee

the toxicity of any residual of a proposed method of treatment (Shelford,

Determination of Hydrogen Ion Concentration; that is, its Acidity

or Alkalinity.—This is best done by indicators (McClendon, '16 ; Clark

and Lubs,'17). The addition of substances to sea water demands some
special attention, as precipitation of calcium and magnesium carbonates

jjrecedes any marked increase of hydroxyl ions due to the addition of

alkalies (Whitley, '05
; Haas, '16). They settle out as a white precipitate.

Treatment of Water during Lozv-water Stages.—-Aeration of the

effluent after considerable dilution will always help to render it less dan-

gerous. Some of the aerating devices used in the activated-sludge proc-

ess of sewage treatment will serve. (Porter, '17; Bartow, '17.)

V. Do ani>nals turn back from the polluting substance and flius

escape destruction; or do they swim into it and dicf

Fresh-water fishes swim into nearly all coal-gas waste constituents.

and on returning to clear water avoid it because intoxicated, and die.

This fact of course increases many times the danger from these sub-

stances. Fishes often react in this way to SO,, which may be a source of

danger in the Miles acid process. The most important reactions of this

kind are probably those of fish which run on shore. The great sensitive-

ness of herring in reactions to small quantities of CO, in sea water sug-

gests that the erratic runs of this fish on our Pacific coast may be due to

some such negative reaction. Likewise the great historical failure and
alleged migration of the herring in Europe which contributed to the

decline of the Baltic towns of the Hanseatic League and to the rise of

Amsterdam may have been due to a similar cause.



34

The acids from munition works have attracted attention of late. An
efifiuent composed of 0.13 to 0.4 per cent, of acid—a mixture of 2 parts of

sulfuric acid and 1 part of nitric acid— is discharged by guncotton works.
This acid effluent flowing into the brackish waters of the coast of New
Jersey repelled the killifishes, on which the keeping down of mosquitoes
depends. It was proposed to treat the acid effluent with lime, and the

question of the effect of the calcium nitrate on the fishes became a prob-

lem for immediate solution.* Similar problems are arising in connection

with inland rivers. Large quantities of such acid is now being run into

the Sangamon River by munition works at Springfield, III., and into

various other waters of this state.

The Gradient Tank.—The gradient tank in which experiments

designed to answer question V are performed, should be twice as wide,

three times as deep and twenty times as long as the length of the fishes

to be tested (Shelford and Allee, '13; Powers, '14; Wells, '15). Where
the density of the water introduced at the two ends is different inclined

screens should be used (Shelford and Powers, '15, p. 327).

Temperature.—It is necessary to see that the temperature of the

water at the two ends of the tank does not differ more than 0.2°C. (Wells.

'14; Shelford and Powers, '15).

VI. Do polluting substances cover the bottom and make conditions

xinfavorahle for eggs?

The majority of important fresh-water animals—mussels, which
furnish pearl for buttons, whitefish, bass, sunfish, etc.—are dependent on
the bottom for breeding, living conditions, or food. For example, bare

clean terrigenous bottom is necessary as a resting-place for eggs of the

whitefish of the Great Lakes (Clark, '10). It breeds in 8-25 meters of

water. Many of the important breeding-grounds in the Great Lakes have

been ruined, or at least rendered unusuable for a long time to come, by
the accumulation of slowly putrescing sawdust, water-logged wood, etc.

(Clark, '10). In Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Michigap, in 1871, salmon

ova were discovered to be diseased and decaying, with particles of saw-

dust adhering to them (Milner, '74). Tarry material often covers bot-

toms and destroys life there. In the case of marine animals such as

herring, clams, and mussels, similar serious results may occur.

Bottom-sampling.—The Petersen bottom-sampler is the best instru-

ment to be lased in deep water (Murray and Hjort, '12, p. 785). For
shallow-water methods see Baker, '16. If the contaminating substances

are covering breeding bottoms of bare sand and gravel they are danger-

ous (Knight, '03).

Bottom Index Organisms.—The presence of gilled snails of the

genera Pleurocera and Goniobasis in fresh water indicates clean bottoms.

Various other organisms usually indicate pollution with sewage (Forbes

and Richardson, '13).

• For this information the writer is inaebted to R. S. Patterson, of the New-
Jersey Mosquito Commission.



Bottom Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide.—Samples should be taken
from the bottom. The oxygen content of water over breeding grounds
should be about 4 c.c. per liter, and CO„ probably not more than 1-5 c.c.

per liter, the precise amount depending on the fish species present ( Shel-
ford, '14; Wells, '13, '15, '15a). The effect of COn on the eggs of fresh-

water fishes has not been fully determined (Ransom. '66). (Milner, '74;

.\nthony, '08 ; Paige, '08 ; Birge and Juday, '11; Shelford, '11, 'lla, 'lib ;

Forbes and Richardson, '13
; Wells, '13.)

Conditions favoring fungi.—It is probable that acidity, that is, much
CO,, and bad aeration favor fungus attack. Such attacks usually occur
on eggs or adults; not on fry (Clinton, '93 ; Dean, '93; Richardson, '13).

VII. If flic supply of useful animals is depleted icill recovery he
rapid or slozv?

Petersen and Jensen found that if the flora and fauna were removed
from marine bottoms useful animals such as oysters can not again live-

on them until a series or succession of plants and animals has prepared
the way. (Petersen and Jensen, '11; Mobius, '83.) The same is true of

fishes in fresh water. A body of water deprived of all its vegetation,

with the associated animals, requires much time for recovery. It is not

simply the useful animals that must be taken into consideration, but the

entire association (Adams, '09; Shelford, '10, '11, 'lla, 'lib).

VIII. Can correct decisions be reached zcitliuitt ini'cstit/ation of iinli-

vidual cases zvhich arise?

Decisions relative to all the preceding points must usually be reached
on the ground. Waters differ in their capacity to neutralize the effects

of effluents, in the maximum and minimum flow, and in their dissolved

content. Samples of water should be taken with reference to the par-

ticular animal-problem in hand. Carbon dioxide and oxygen determina-
tions should be made on the ground, and at least a small amount of

observation is indispensable. Mere office decisions, made at a distance

and based upon report and inferences, are dangerous. The "antagonisms"
of poisons, discussed on page 33, make decision without experiments

unwise.

IX. What is the real value of the ZMJste zuhen the aiuou)it of the

damage zvhich it causes is added to its commercial value?

One continually hears it said that the recovery of this or that waste

product does not pay; that this is an all-sufficient reason for not recover-

ing it—and the matter is usually dismissed forthwith. We need an
entirely new view-point. The value of any waste product is its com-
mercial value, when properly recovered, plus the amount of loss it

occasions when unrecovered. Practically all kinds of waste may be made
into something useful (Koller, '15; Weston, '16; Feilding, '17). The
recovery of grease from sewage or garbage might not pay under market
conditions, but if the grease so recovered will prevent the national supply

frqm giving out it should be recovered by all means. It has been esti-



36

mated (see Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter. '18 and '18a) that the sewage
of ninety-seven cities of more than 50,000 inhabitants, treated by the

Miles acid process, would yield per year as follows

:

Fertilizer 97,393,680 tons

Ammonia 4,869,684 tons

Grease 25,780,680 tons

Glycerine 1,289,039 tons

Recovery plants have not been installed, however, because critics of

the conservation plan maintain that the profits will be less than its

friends have predicted. As has been true in most other cases, calcula-

tions of the cost of suitable recovery plants and of the value of recovered

products have been made with only minor regard to public health, and
with little reference to the damage which the remaining effluent may do

to fishes. In correct calculations the value of the recovered products and
the benefits to public health would both be regarded as credits. The
dangers or benefits to fisheries from the residual acid effluent of the Miles

process should also be considered. This effluent is 50 parts per million

acid. Either sulfuric acid or sulfur dioxide may be used in the process.

Sulfur dioxide and salts of sulfurous acid (Phelps, '09) are probably

more toxic to fishes than sulfuric acid and its salts (see Table III). The
acid should be neutralized if present in dangerous concentrations, and

the cost of reducing the acidity of the effluent balanced against fisheries

protected thereby.



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