Reducing repetition of regulatory vertebrate ecotoxicology studies

Key Opportunities to Replace, Reduce, and Refine Regulatory Fish Acute Toxicity Tests

“…In such cases, it is better to have employed a solvent control and deliver a robust study that does not subsequently need repeating. The provision of improved technical guidance such as the updated guidance document 23 can also help to reduce the need to repeat studies by supporting the fulfillment of recommendations or validity criteria within test guidelines (Burden et al 2017).…”

“…They are used to determine the lethal concentration of a substance that causes death in 50% of the test population (LC50) during short‐term exposure—over hours or days. Fish acute toxicity studies are now the most frequently conducted vertebrate ecotoxicology tests (Figure 1; Burden et al 2017) and one of the very few standardized vertebrate ecotoxicity tests where death is the intended endpoint—often causing significant suffering to test animals. This prompts the question: What are the key opportunities to apply the 3Rs principles—reduction, refinement, and replacement (see Table 2)—to the fish acute toxicity test in a regulatory setting?…”

“…Number of Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development test guideline vertebrate ecotoxicology studies conducted across 15 contract research organizations from 2014 through 2017. More information on this survey can be found in Burden et al (2017). Fish acute toxicity studies (in accordance with Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development 2019a) were by far the most frequently conducted.…”

Recommendations for Reducing the USE of Fish and Amphibians in Endocrine‐Disruption Testing of Biocides and Plant Protection Products in Europe

“…For each test, a range‐finding test was included with 3 test concentrations, a control and half the replicates of a definitive test. Also, a conservative failure rate (triggering test repetition) was estimated for each test based on the work of Burden et al (), who surveyed test laboratories, and Salinas and Weltje (), who analyzed validation data.…”

Learned Discourses: Timely Scientific Opinions

“…For each test, a range-fi nding test was included with 3 test concentrations, a control and half the replicates of a defi nitive test. Also, a conservative failure rate (triggering test repetition) was estimated for each test based on the work of Burden et al (2017), who surveyed test laboratories, and Salinas and Weltje (2018), who analyzed validation data.…”