Toward refined environmental scenarios for ecological risk assessment of down-the-drain chemicals in freshwater environments.
Current regulatory practice for chemical risk assessment suffers from the lack of realism in conventional frameworks. Despite significant advances in exposure and ecological effect modeling, the implementation of novel approaches as high-tier options for prospective regulatory risk assessment remains limited, particularly among general chemicals such as down-the-drain ingredients. While reviewing the current state of the art in environmental exposure and ecological effect modeling, we propose a scenario-based framework that enables a better integration of exposure and effect assessments in a tiered approach. Global- to catchment-scale spatially explicit exposure models can be used to identify areas of higher exposure and to generate ecologically relevant exposure information for input into effect models. Numerous examples of mechanistic ecological effect models demonstrate that it is technically feasible to extrapolate from individual-level effects to effects at higher levels of biological organization and from laboratory to environmental conditions. However, the data required to parameterize effect models that can embrace the complexity of ecosystems are large and require a targeted approach. Experimental efforts should, therefore, focus on vulnerable species and/or traits and ecological conditions of relevance. We outline key research needs to address the challenges that currently hinder the practical application of advanced model-based approaches to risk assessment of down-the-drain chemicals. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:233-248. © 2016 SETAC.
Unilever, Safety & Environmental Assurance Centre, Colworth Science Park, Sharnbrook, United Kingdom.
Antonio
A
Franco
Unilever, Safety & Environmental Assurance Centre, Colworth Science Park, Sharnbrook, United Kingdom.
Oliver R
OR
Price
Unilever, Safety & Environmental Assurance Centre, Colworth Science Park, Sharnbrook, United Kingdom.
Stuart
S
Marshall
Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Olivier
O
Jolliet
Alterra, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Wageningen, The Netherlands.|Department of Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Paul J
PJ
Van den Brink
Alterra, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Wageningen, The Netherlands.|IMDEA Water Institute, Science and Technology Campus of the University of Alcalà, Alcalà de Henares, Madrid, Spain.
Andreu
A
Rico
Alterra, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Andreas
A
Focks
Research Unit in Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, University of Namur, Namur, Belgium.
Frederik
F
De Laender
Environment Department, University of York Heslington, York, United Kingdom.
Roman
R
Ashauer
D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005618:Fresh Water; D006795:Household Products / Q000032:analysis*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D062065:Wastewater / Q000737:chemistry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
Down-the-drain chemicals; Ecological models; Ecological risk assessment; Environmental scenario; Spatial models