title: Integration of biological responses from a suite of bioassays for the Venice Lagoon (Italy) through sediment toxicity index - part A: development and comparison of two methodological approaches.
abstract: Marine and coastal quality assessment, based on test batteries involving a wide array of endpoints, organisms and test matrices, needs for setting up toxicity indices that integrate multiple toxicological measures for decision-making processes and that classify the continuous toxicity response into discrete categories according to the European Water Framework Directive. Two toxicity indices were developed for the lagoon environment such as the Venice Lagoon. Stepwise procedure included: the construction of a database that identified test-matrix pairs (indicators); the selection of a minimum number of ecotoxicological indicators, called toxicological core metrics (CMs-tox) on the basis of specific criteria; the development of toxicity scores for each CM-tox; the integration of the CMs-tox into two indices, the Toxicity Effect Index (TEI), based on the transformation of Toxic Unit (TU) data that were integrated as logarithmic sum, and the Weighted Average Toxicity Index (WATI), starting from toxicity classes integrated as weighted mean. Results from the indices are compared; advantages and drawbacks of both approaches are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Sciences Department, University Ca' Foscari of Venice, Campo della Celestia 2737/b, I-30122 Venice, Italy. closso@unive.it
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Losso
authors.forename: Alessandra Arizzi
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Novelli
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De Salvador
authors.forename: Pier Francesco
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Ghetti
authors.forename: Annamaria Volpi
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Ghirardini
mesh_terms: D048908:Aliivibrio fischeri / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D049896:Crassostrea / Q000378:metabolism; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000032:analysis*; D007558:Italy; D049878:Mytilus / Q000378:metabolism; D047328:Paracentrotus / Q000378:metabolism; D018675:Toxicity Tests / Q000379:methods*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical