It is time to develop ecological thresholds of toxicological concern to assist environmental hazard assessment

Belanger, Scott E.; Sanderson, Hans; Embry, Michelle R.; Coady, Katherine K.; DeZwart, Dick; Farr, Brianna A.; Gutsell, Steve; Halder, Marlies; Sternberg, Robin M.; Wilson, Peter

doi:10.1002/etc.3132

Cited by 32 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 16 publications

(19 reference statements)

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“…In regard to the criticism that specifically acting compounds are under-represented in comparisons of sensitivity (thereby making it likely that fish would be put at risk if FET data were used instead), a larger evaluation of ecotoxicological data has begun using a recently curated database in the Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (2018) ecological Threshold of Toxicologic Concern project (including some 60 000þ studies). The results suggest that the trends observed in the present study hold for specifically acting compounds when acute toxicity is the focus (Belanger et al 2015;Connors et al 2019;K.A. Connors et al, personal communication).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 65%

Fish embryo tests and acute fish toxicity tests are interchangeable in the application of the threshold approach

Rawlings

Belanger

Connors

et al. 2019

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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A database was compiled for algal Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) test guideline 201, for Daphnia magna OECD test guideline 202, for the acute fish toxicity (AFT) OECD test guideline 203, and for the fish embryo toxicity (FET) OECD test guideline 236 to assess the suitability and applicability of the FET test in a threshold approach context. In the threshold approach, algal and Daphnia toxicity are assessed first, after which a limit test is conducted at the lower of the 2 toxicity values using fish. If potential fish toxicity is indicated, a full median lethal concentration assay is performed. This tiered testing strategy can significantly reduce the number of fish used in toxicity testing because algae or Daphnia are typically more sensitive than fish. A total of 165 compounds had AFT and FET data available, and of these, 82 had algal and Daphnia acute toxicity data available. Algae and Daphnia were more sensitive 75 to 80% of the time. Fish or FET tests were most sensitive 20 and 16% of the time, respectively, when considered as the sole fish toxicity indicator and 27% of the time when both were considered simultaneously. When fish were the most sensitive trophic level, different compounds were identified as the most toxic in FET and to AFT tests; however, the differences were not so large that they resulted in substantially different outcomes when potencies were binned using the United Nations categories of aquatic toxicity under the Globally Harmonized System for classification and labeling. It is recommended that the FET test could be used to directly replace the AFT test in the threshold approach or could be used as the definitive test if an AFT limit test indicated toxicity potential for a chemical. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:671–681. © 2019 SETAC

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 65%

Fish embryo tests and acute fish toxicity tests are interchangeable in the application of the threshold approach

Rawlings

Belanger

Connors

et al. 2019

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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“…However, in practical application, ecological risk assessments often develop thresholds based on site-specific criteria, such as the threshold of toxicological concern (TTC; Kroes et al 2004;Belanger et al 2015). However, in practical application, ecological risk assessments often develop thresholds based on site-specific criteria, such as the threshold of toxicological concern (TTC; Kroes et al 2004;Belanger et al 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polychlorinated biphenyl tissue‐concentration thresholds for survival, growth, and reproduction in fish

Berninger

Tillitt

2019

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have left a legacy of environmental contamination. Even though they were banned from production and active use in the 1970s, they persist in the environment and still have the potential to impact aquatic life. Our objective was to identify data from controlled laboratory studies of PCB‐related adverse effects in fish and to conduct a meta‐analysis on mortality, growth, and reproductive (MGR) threshold responses. For each endpoint type, we compiled data on the lowest‐observed‐adverse effect concentration (LOAEC) and the degree of effect at the LOAEC as a percentage of control. The LOAECs were expressed as tissue concentrations, so the term lowest‐observed‐adverse‐effect residue concentration (LOAER) was used to represent PCB exposures. The lower limit of applicability was set at 0.1 μg/g total PCB tissue concentration, below which adverse MGR effects in fish were not supported by the data. Sensitivity distributions identifying the probability of adverse effects in fish populations or communities predicted that 25% of fish species would be impacted between 0.1 and 7.5 μg/g. Concentration–response threshold regressions were developed from the MGR datasets. For example, a 1 μg/g total PCB tissue concentration would predict effects of 17% mortality, 15% growth, and 39% reproductive. The analysis determined the degree of adverse response, with uncertainty estimates, expected across a broad range of PCB tissue exposure concentrations in fish. Data generated from MGR endpoints were combined to determine an approach for overall effect thresholds for PCB‐related injury in fish. The MGR datasets included only laboratory data; however, responses were compared with field‐observed effects. The present review provides a comprehensive assessment of PCB‐induced injury in fish utilizing a data‐inclusive approach. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:712–736. Published 2018 Wiley Periodicals Inc. on behalf of SETAC. This article is a US government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.

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“…This concept is well established for assessing human safety and has been reapplied for a wide range of structural classes. Use of the TTC in environmental safety is just beginning, and key questions focus on hazard extrapolation of diverse taxa across trophic levels, importance of mode of action, and whether safe concentrations for ecosystems estimated from acute or chronic toxicity data are equally useful and in what context (Belanger et al 2015). A tiered approach in which each tier allows for greater accuracy of prediction could be based on the sequential use of the TTC, ACR and interspecies ratio values, and MOA-based regression models that generate chemical-specific predictions of chronic toxicity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Waiving chronic fish tests: possible use of acute-to-chronic relationships and interspecies correlations

Kienzler

Halder

Worth

2016

Toxicological & Environmental Chemistry

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EU chemicals legislation requires the use of all available information for hazard and risk assessment before new tests on vertebrates are proposed or conducted. In this context, extrapolation approaches for avoiding chronic fish testing on the basis of existing data have been explored. Simple linear relationships and interspecies sensitivity ratios between Daphnia and fish were calculated and acute-to-chronic relationships and ratios were calculated for fish, taking into consideration the mode of action. The best fitted relationships for the prediction of chronic fish toxicity are obtained based on acute fish and Daphnia data. Chemicals acting by unspecific reactivity and non-polar narcosis give the strongest acute and chronic Daphnia-to-chronic fish relationship. With acute fish data, strong relationships are obtained for all mode of action. Daphnia was found to be more sensitive than fish to several aniline derivatives and pesticides acting through cholinesterase inhibition, and less sensitive than fish to known endocrine disruptors. Extreme (i.e. <1 or >100) interspecies sensitivity ratios were mainly evident for chemicals acting by polar narcosis and specific reactivity. The safety factor of 100 commonly applied in environmental risk assessment does not seem to be equally protective for each mode of action.

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It is time to develop ecological thresholds of toxicological concern to assist environmental hazard assessment

Cited by 32 publications

References 16 publications

Fish embryo tests and acute fish toxicity tests are interchangeable in the application of the threshold approach

Fish embryo tests and acute fish toxicity tests are interchangeable in the application of the threshold approach

Polychlorinated biphenyl tissue‐concentration thresholds for survival, growth, and reproduction in fish

Waiving chronic fish tests: possible use of acute-to-chronic relationships and interspecies correlations

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