Acute aquatic toxicity of arsenic-based chemical warfare agents to Daphnia magna

•Acute aquatic toxicity of the arsenic-based chemical warfare agents (CWA) was investigated.•Results from standard OECD D. magna tests serve as a new risk categorization tool.•Sea-dumped PDCA, Lewisite, Clark I and Adamsite remain very toxic in water. Sea dumping of chemical warfare (CW) took place worldwide during the 20th century. Submerged CW included metal bombs and casings that have been exposed for 50–100 years of corrosion and are now known to be leaking. Therefore, the arsenic-based chemical warfare agents (CWAs), pose a potential threat to the marine ecosystems. The aim of this research was to support a need for real-data measurements for accurate risk assessments and categorization of threats originating from submerged CWAs. This has been achieved by providing a broad insight into arsenic-based CWAs acute toxicity in aquatic ecosystems. Standard tests were performed to provide a solid foundation for acute aquatic toxicity threshold estimations of CWA: Lewisite, Adamsite, Clark I, phenyldichloroarsine (PDCA), CWA-related compounds: TPA, arsenic trichloride and four arsenic-based CWA degradation products. Despite their low solubility, during the 48 h exposure, all CWA caused highly negative effects on Daphnia magna. PDCA was very toxic with 48 h D. magna LC50 at 0.36 μg × L−1 and Lewisite with EC50 at 3.2 μg × L−1. Concentrations at which no immobilization effects were observed were slightly above the analytical Limits of Detection (LOD) and Quantification (LOQ). More water-soluble CWA degradation products showed no effects at concentrations up to 100 mg × L−1.