Toxic effects of unionized Ammonia on survival and feeding activity of the freshwater Amphipod Eulimnogammarus toletanus (Gammaridae, Crustacea)

Abstract

The foremost anthropogenic sources of ammonia are urban and agricultural runoff, animal farming, industrial wastes and sewage effluents (Williams et al. 1986; Maltby 1995). In a freshwater solution, ammonia can be found as two different chernical species, the unionized form (NH3) and the ionized form (NH.il, this chernical equilibrium depending on water temperature and pH (Emerson et al. 1975; Williams et al. 1986). The toxicity of ammonia is related to the unionized form (Alabaster and Lloyd 1982; Williams et al. 1986; Maltby 1995; Frías-Espericueta et al. 2000), since the ionized form has little toxicity (Alabaster and Lloyd 1982; Williams et al. 1986).