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A FRAMEWORK FOR ASSESSING THE HAZARD OF PHARMACEUTICAL MATERIALS TO AQUATIC SPECIES
Citation:
Ankley, G T., M. C. Black, J. Garric, T. H. Hutchinson, AND T. Iguchi. A FRAMEWORK FOR ASSESSING THE HAZARD OF PHARMACEUTICAL MATERIALS TO AQUATIC SPECIES. Chapter 6, Richard T. Williams (ed.), Human Pharmaceuticals: Assessing the Impacts on Aquatic Ecosystems. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Pensacola, FL, , 183-237, (2005).
Impact/Purpose:
To address the impacts of human pharmaceuticals on populations of aquatic organisms
Description:
There are a wide variety of existing ecotoxicity methods that may be used to address potential impacts of human pharmaceuticals on populations of aquatic organisms. Several key methods, using algae, invertebrates, or fish, focus upon measuring population-relevent effects (e.g. survival, growth, and reproduction) that are in principle well suited to detecting a wide range of xenobiotics, including human pharmaceuticals, for the purposes of aquatic environmental risk assessment. Additional to the measurement of apical effect endpoints, the issue of endocrine-disrupting chemicals has given international impetus to the importance of using validated biomarker responses for ecotoxicity screening, testing, and monitoring purposes in the laboratory and field situation. - - - This chapter summarizes the relevant state-of-the-science in testing for effects and bioaccumulation potential in both aqueous phase and sediment dwelling organisms and proposes a "training set of reference substances" that will be invaluable in deciding on future testing priorities for the regulatory assessment of pharmaceutical products and complex mixtures containing drugs, their metabolites, and other substances. Finally, the consequent availability of high quality acute and chronic ecotoxicity studies will provide data concerning acute chronic toxicity relationships for future use by risk assessors for application as appropriate in regional or local situations.