Ecotoxicity of mixtures of metals to the zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha

The effects of equitoxic mixtures of CuCl₂, ZnCl₂, and CdCl₂ on the filtration rate of the freshwater mussel Dreissena polymorpha were determined. The amounts of added metals were expressed in toxic units, and a range of toxic units was tested. Cu + Zn was less than concentration additive, Zn + Cd was concentration additive, and Cu + Cd was more than concentration additive in their effects on the filtration rate of Dreissena polymorpha. An equitoxic mixture of all three metals was concentration additive. The effect of a mixture could not be predicted from the effects of the single metals. The concentrations at which Cu and Cd contributed to the toxicity of a mixture of Cu + Zn + Cd were at or below the NOECs for these metals, determined in single‐metal toxicity tests. At low but elevated Cu and Zn concentrations in water, no accumulation of these metals in the mussels took place; Cd, on the contrary, was accumulated at all Cd concentrations in the water.