Effects of copper Sulphate and Direct Blue-218 on growth, morphology and reproduction of Daphnia magna

The present study is aimed to evaluate toxic effects stimulated by copper-complexed dye DB-218 and CuSO4 on D. magna. Acute toxicity tests and Chronic toxicity tests were performed in accordance with OECD guidelines no 202 and 211 respectively. Atomic adsorption spectroscopy revealed presence of 0.421mg of copper in per gram of Direct Blue-218. The LC50 values of DB-218 and CuSO4 were found to be 1mg-L and 0.0008 mg-L respectively at 48 hours. Morphological deformity in daphnids as swelling in carapace, distortion of gut was highly pronounced in higher concentrations of the test substances. Long term exposure affected all aspects of reproduction in D. magna at environmental concentrations higher than 0.1mg-L and 0.0001mg-L for DB-218 and CuSO4 respectively. However, the overall effects of DB-218 on reproduction were lower than CuSO4 which unquestionably indicate CuSO4 is more lethal than DB-218.