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METHODS FOR AQUATIC TOXICITY IDENTIFICATION EVALUATIONS: PHASE III TOXICITY CONFIRMATION PROCEDURES FOR SAMPLES EXHIBITING ACUTE AND CHRONIC TOXICITY
Citation:
Mount, D. AND T. Norberg-King. METHODS FOR AQUATIC TOXICITY IDENTIFICATION EVALUATIONS: PHASE III TOXICITY CONFIRMATION PROCEDURES FOR SAMPLES EXHIBITING ACUTE AND CHRONIC TOXICITY. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/R-92/081 (NTIS PB94123833), 1993.
Description:
In 1989, the guidance document for acutely toxic effluents titled Methods for Aquatic Toxicity Identification Evaluations: Phase III Toxicity Confirmation Procedures was published (EPA, 1989D)This manual and its companion documents (EPA, 1991A; EPA, 1992; EPA, 1993A) are intended to provide guidance to aid dischargers in confirming the cause of toxicity in industrial and municipal effluents. he toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) starts with a characterization of the effluent toxicity using aquatic organisms to track toxicity, this step is followed by identifying a suspect toxicant(s) and then confirming the suspect toxicant as the cause of toxicity. his Phase III confirmation document provides greater detail and more insight into the procedures described in the acute Phase III confirmation document (EPA, 1989D). rocedures to confirm that all toxicants have been correctly identified are given and specific changes for methods applicable to chronic toxicity are included. ifficult aspect of confirmation occurs when toxicants are not additive, and therefore the effects of effluent matrix affecting the toxicants are discussed. he same basic techniques (correlation, symptoms, relative species sensitivity, spiking, mass balance and miscellaneous) are still used to confirm toxicants and case examples are provided to illustrate some of the Phase III procedures. rocedures that describe the techniques to specifically characterize the acute or chronic toxicity (EPA, 1988) or to identify (EPA, 1988) toxicants have also been rewritten (EPA, 1991A; EPA 1992; EPA, 1993A).