Standard Guide for Conducting Short-Term Chronic Toxicity Tests with Echinoid Embryos

Importancia y uso:

5.1 An acute toxicity test is conducted to assess effects of a short-term exposure of organisms to a test material under specific experimental conditions. An acute toxicity test does not provide information concerning whether delayed effects will occur and typically evaluates effects on survival. A chronic test is typically longer in duration and includes a sublethal endpoint to assess effects on a population that might occur beyond the exposure period. Because the echinoderm embryo development test includes a sublethal endpoint, but is also short in duration, these tests are considered to be short-term chronic tests, consistent with EPA guidance.

5.2 Because embryos and larvae are usually assumed to be the most sensitive life stages of these echinoid species, and because some of these species are commercially and recreationally important, the results of these tests are often considered to be a good indication of the acceptability of pollutant concentrations to saltwater species in general. The results of these toxicity tests are often assumed to be an important consideration when assessing the hazard of materials to other saltwater organisms (see Guides E724 and E1023) or when deriving water quality criteria for saltwater organisms (7).

5.3 The results of short-term chronic toxicity tests might be used to predict effects likely to occur to aquatic organisms in field situations as a result of exposure under comparable conditions, except that toxicity to benthic species might depend on sorption or settling of the test material onto the substrate.

5.4 The results of short-term chronic tests might be used to compare the sensitivities of different species and the acute toxicities of different test materials, and to determine the effects of various environmental factors on the results of such tests.

5.5 The results of short-term chronic toxicity tests might be useful for studying the biological availability of, and structure-activity relationships between, test materials.

5.6 The results of any toxicity tests will depend on temperature, composition of the dilution water, condition of the test organisms, and other factors.

5.7 Results of short-term chronic toxicity tests might be used to predict effects likely to occur to aquatic organisms exposed to suspended particulates of dredged sediments disposed through the water column.

5.8 Results of short-term chronic toxicity tests might be used to predict effects likely to occur to aquatic organisms exposed to bedded whole sediments.

Subcomité:

E50.47

Referida por:

E0729-23E01, E1850-04R19, E1525-02R23

Volúmen:

11.09

Número ICS:

07.080 (Biology. Botany. Zoology), 07.100.20 (Microbiology of water), 13.020.40 (Pollution, pollution control and conservation)

Palabras clave:

acute toxicity; Arbacia punctulata; Dendraster excentricus; echinoid; EC50 test; embryo development; marine water quality; pluteus larva; sand dollar; sea urchin; sediment test; short-term chronic toxicity; static toxicity test; Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis; Strongylocentrotus purpuratus; toxicity; toxicology;