The role of ecotoxicology for monitoring ecosystem health (original) (raw)
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Integrated …, 2010
Several European directives and regulations address the environmental risk assessment of chemicals. We used the protection of freshwater ecosystems against plant protection products, biocidal products, human and veterinary pharmaceuticals, and other chemicals and priority substances under the Water Framework Directive as examples to explore the potential of ecological effect models for a refined risk assessment. Our analysis of the directives, regulations, and related guidance documents lead us to distinguish the following 5 areas for the application of ecological models in chemical risk assessment: 1) Extrapolation of organism-level effects to the population level: The protection goals are formulated in general terms, e.g., avoiding “unacceptable effects” or “adverse impact” on the environment or the “viability of exposed species.” In contrast, most of the standard ecotoxicological tests provide data only on organism-level endpoints and are thus not directly linked to the protection goals which focus on populations and communities. 2) Extrapolation of effects between different exposure profiles: Especially for plant protection products, exposure profiles can be very variable and impossible to cover in toxicological tests. 3) Extrapolation of recovery processes: As a consequence of the often short-term exposures to plant protection products, the risk assessment is based on the community recovery principle. On the other hand, assessments under the other directives assume a more or less constant exposure and are based on the ecosystem threshold principle. 4) Analysis and prediction of indirect effects: Because effects on 1 or a few taxa might have consequences on other taxa that are not directly affected by the chemical, such indirect effects on communities have to be considered. 5) Prediction of bioaccumulation within food chains: All directives take the possibility of bioaccumulation, and thus secondary poisoning within the food chain, into account. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2010;6:325–337. © 2010 SETAC
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), 2022
Legal notice Preparation of this report has been co-funded by the European Environment Agency as part of a grant with the European Topic Centre on Human Health and the Environment (ETC HE) and expresses the views of the authors. The contents of this publication does not necessarily reflect the position or opinion of the European Commission or other institutions of the European Union. Neither the European Environment Agency nor the European Topic Centre on Human Health and the Environment is liable for any consequences stemming from the reuse of the information contained in this publication.
Ecotoxicological effects assessment in the Netherlands: Recent developments
Environmental Management, 1990
In a recently published annex to the National Environmental Policy Plan of the Netherlands (1989), attention was paid to ecotoxicological effects assessment. The proposed procedure was based on the advice of the Health Council of the Netherlands (1989) on nsk assessment of toxic chemicals for ecosystems. The various extrapolation methods described by the Health Council are critically discussed in this paper. The extrapolation method of Van Straalen and Denneman (1989) is evaluated for eight chemicals and 11 aquatic species. Conclusions are drawn about the quality and quantity of the ecotoxicological data needed for aquatic effects assessment. For the soil-a compartment that is often at risk-ecotoxicological effects assessment is not possible because suitable ecotoxicological test methods still have to be developed.
Ecotoxicological effects assessment: A comparison of several extrapolation procedures
Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, 1991
In the future, extrapolation procedures will become more and more important for the effect assessment of compounds in aquatic systems. For achieving a reliable method these extrapolation procedures have to be evaluated thoroughly. As a first step three extrapolation procedures are compared by means of two sets of data, consisting of (semi)chronic and acute toxicity test results for 11 aquatic species and 8 compounds. Because of its statistical basis the extrapolation procedure of Van Straalen and Denneman is preferred over the procedures of the EPA and Stephan et al. The results of the calculations showed that lower numbers of toxicity data increase the chance of underestimating the risk of a compound. Therefore it is proposed to extend the OECD guidelines for algae, Daphnia, and fish with chronic (aquatic) toxicity tests for more species of different taxonomic groups. 0 199 I Academic Press, Inc.
Environments, 2014
Within the context of the Water Framework Directive, the need to identify new monitoring tools in support of the traditional chemical monitoring process is emerging. Chemical characterization by itself does not provide specific biological information about potential hazards to organisms, in particular when facing cocktails of contaminants. Therefore, ecotoxicity tests can represent a useful tool supporting the chemical information. In the present work, the value of ecotoxicity tests as an effect-based tool for monitoring freshwater and sediment quality of the southwestern basin of Lake Como (Northern Italy) was evaluated, assessing the potential risk of pollutants. Results obtained from D. magna toxicity tests showed a temporal variation of toxic response in relation to the variability of organic micropollutant load characteristics of urban rivers. Sediment ecotoxicity test data showed the spatial variability of the sediments' contamination within the lake, confirmed by chemical analysis of two classes of pollutants (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and polychlorobiphenyls (PCB)). The observed effects on organisms in laboratory tests caused by a mixture of almost unknown chemicals underline the importance of integrating effect-based tools into monitoring efforts.
Current Issues in Statistics and Models for Ecotoxicological Risk Assessment
Acta Biotheoretica, 2004
A review is given on statistical and modelling issues in ecotoxicology. The issues discussed are: 1. How to estimate an (almost) no effect concentration chemicals in the laboratory. 2. Combining single-species acceptable effect levels to an acceptable effect level for a multi-species ecosystem. 3. The combined effect of exposure to several chemicals. 4. Bioavailability in the natural environment and food-web models. Most current procedures in setting standards allow the environmental concentration to be above the acceptable effect concentration for a small fraction of the species. It is shown that a considerable part of the fraction of the affected species will suffer a severe effect.