Algal growth inhibition: effect of the choice of growth rate or biomass as endpoint on the classification and labelling of new substances notified in the EU.
From the complete base set notifications of new substances currently available, we have investigated what effects the choice of using growth rate or biomass in the algal growth inhibition test has on the relative sensitivity of the three aquatic toxicity tests. Both parameters derived from the algal test were more sensitive than either fish or Daphnia tests. Changes in the classification of substances after the removal of either algae, Daphnia or fish data from the base set, when applying current legal practice, occur in 22.9%, 6.6% and 4.8% of the notifications, respectively. When always using growth rate as a parameter, these numbers change to 15.4%, 9.2% and 7.2%, respectively.
Weyers
A
A
European Commission Joint Research Centre, Institute for Health and Consumer Protection, Unit: Toxicology and Chemical Substances, European Chemicals Bureau, Ispra, Italy. arnd.weyers@jrc.it
Vollmer
G
G
D000818:Animals; D018533:Biomass; D003621:Daphnia / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D056890:Eukaryota / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development*; D005060:Europe; D012016:Reference Values; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018675:Toxicity Tests; D014873:Water Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects*
D014873:Water Pollutants