Which distribution to choose for deriving a species sensitivity distribution? Implications from analysis of acute and chronic ecotoxicity data.

Species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) estimated by fitting a statistical distribution to ecotoxicity data are indispensable tools used to derive the hazardous concentration for 5 % of species (HC5) and thereby a predicted no-effect concentration in environmental risk assessment. Whereas various statistical distributions are available for SSD estimation, the fundamental question of which statistical distribution should be used has received limited systematic analysis. We aimed to address this knowledge gap by applying four frequently used statistical distributions (log-normal, log-logistic, Burr type III, and Weibull distributions) to acute and chronic SSD estimation using aquatic toxicity data for 191 and 31 chemicals, respectively.

Can Chemical Toxicity in Saltwater Be Predicted from Toxicity in Freshwater? A Comprehensive Evaluation Using Species Sensitivity Distributions.

Species sensitivity distributions (SSDs) play an important role in ecological risk assessment. Estimating SSDs requires toxicity data for many species, but reports on saltwater species are often limited compared to freshwater species. This limitation can constrain informed management of saltwater quality for the protection of marine ecosystems.

Development and application of a metabolomic tool to assess exposure of an estuarine amphipod to pollutants in the environment.

Identifying major adverse effects on aquatic organisms in environmental samples is still challenging, and metabolomic approaches have been utilized as non-target screening techniques in the context of ecotoxicology. While existing methods have focused on statistical tests or univariate analysis, there is the need to further explore a multivariate analytical method that captures synergetic effects and associations among metabolites and toxicants. Here we show a new tool for screening sediment toxicity in the environment.