STREAM POLLUTION 
427 
Phenol, C0H5OH. Carbolic acid 
An important constituent of gas wastes, many chemical effluents, and even some sewage products. 
Phenol may also come into streams from sheep dips and other establishments where livestock are 
disinfected. Shelford (1917), 70-75 p. p. m. in tap water killed orange-spotted sunfish, Lepomis 
humilis, in 1 hour; Powers (1917), 51 p. p. m. in distilled water killed goldfish in 1 hour 30 minutes 
to 2 hours 20 minutes; Demyanenko (1931), 16.6-20 p. p. m. lethal to fishes, some can live in 15, 
p. p. in., but their flesh acquires phenolic smell; Alexander, Southgate, and Bassindale (1935), 
0. 4-0.6 p. p. m. caused trout to overturn in 8 hours 20 minutes; Adams (1927), 10 p. p. m. in Nile 
River water killed cladocerans, Daphina sp., and copepods, Cyclops sp.; M. M. E., 10 p. p. m. in 
hard water killed goldfish, Carassius auralus, in 72 hours or less, 1 p. p. m. apparently not injurious 
to goldfish in exposures of 100 hours; 8 p. p. m. in soft water killed cladocerans, Daphnia magna. 
Potassium bicarbonate, KHCO3 
Penny and Adams (1863), 2,000 p. p. m. killed minnows and goldfish. 
Potassium chloride, KC1 
Garrey (1916), 373 p. p. m. in distilled water killed straw-colored minnows, Notropis blennius, 
in 12-29 hours; Powers (1917), 74.6 p. p. m. in distilled water lethal for goldfish in 4 hours 40 minutes 
to 15 hours. 
Potassium cyanide, KCN 
Ore milling operations; chemical works; electroplating; and in effluents from coke ovens. 
(See Tupholme, 1933.) Powers (1917), 0.78 p. p. m. in distilled water killed goldfish in 43-118 
hours; Calatroni (1928), 15 p. p. m. in tap water immobilized tadpoles with fatal results; McArthur 
and Baillie (1929), 65 p. p. m. killed cladocerans, Daphnia magna; Southgate, Pentelow, and Bassin- 
dale (1933), 0.27 p. p. m. KCN (equal to 0.11 p. p. m. CN) at temperature of 7°-9° C. caused trout 
to float helpless on back in about 2 hours if the dissolved oxygen in the water were circa 11 p. p. m. t 
but in 10 minutes if the water carried only 3 p. p. m. dissolved oxygen; Alexander, Southgate, and 
Bassindale (1935) find 0.5 p. p. m. KCN (0.2 p. p. m. CN) will cause trout to overturn and become 
helpless in 15 minutes; M. M. E., 1 p. p. m. in river water caused glochidia of fresh-water mussels 
to close, rendering them incapable of attachment on fishes, and 0.1 -0.3 p. p. m., in hard water 
killed goldfish in 3-4 days. 
Potassium dichromate, Ix^C^O; 
Ore floatation processes; chemical industries. M. M. E., 100 p. p. m. in hard water apparently 
not harmful to goldfish in exposures of 108 hours, 500 p. p. m. lethal to goldfish in 3 days. 
Potassium ferricyanide, K 3 Fe(CN)6- Red prussiate of potash 
Penny and Adams (1863), 2,000 p. p. m. not lethal to minnows and goldfish. 
Potassium ferrocyanide, K 4 Fe(CN) 6 . Yellow prussiate of potash 
Penny and Adams (1863), 2,000 p. p. m. not lethal to minnows and goldfish; Weigelt, Saare, 
and Schwab (1885), trout survived 1 hour exposure to 8,723 p. p. m. in tap water without symptoms. 
Potassium hydroxide, KOH. Caustic potash 
Soap works; from some types of ashes. Wells (1915), 56 p. p. m. in distilled water killed 
bluegills, Lepomis pallidus, in 4 hours 25 minutes, 28 p. p. m. apparently not harmful to bluegills 
in 10-day exposures. 
Potassium nitrate, KNO3. Saltpeter 
Wells (1915b), 1,203 p. p. m. in tap water killed bluegills, Lepomis pallidus, in 15 days. 
Potassium permanganate, KM11O4 
This powerful oxidizing agent is frequently used to disinfect hatchery tanks and can be applied 
with caution to fish themselves. Adams (1927), 5 p. p. m. in Nile River water killed cladocerans, 
Daphnia sp., and copepods, Cyclops sp.; M. M. E., 10 p. p. m. in hard water killed goldfish, Caras- 
sius auralus, in 12-18 hours. 
