Sensitivity of submersed freshwater macrophytes and endpoints in laboratory toxicity tests.

The toxicological sensitivity and variability of a range of macrophyte endpoints were statistically tested with data from chronic, non-axenic, macrophyte toxicity tests. Five submersed freshwater macrophytes, four pesticides/biocides and 13 endpoints were included in the statistical analyses. Root endpoints, reflecting root growth, were most sensitive in the toxicity tests, while endpoints relating to biomass, growth and shoot length were less sensitive.

Alternative approaches can greatly reduce the number of fish used for acute toxicity testing.

Acute toxicity tests with algae, daphnids, and fish are required for the classification and environmental risk assessment of chemicals. The degree of risk is determined by the lowest of these acute toxicity values. Many ecotoxicological programs are seeking to reduce the numbers of fish used in acute toxicity testing.

QSARs in ecotoxicological risk assessment.

The need for more ecotoxicological data encourages the use of QSARs because of the reduction of (animal) testing, time and cost. QSARs may however only be used if they prove to be reliable and accurate. In this paper, four QSARs were attempted to predict toxicity for 170 compounds from a broad chemical class, using them as a black-box.