Citation:

Allen, Hubert. Online Toxicity Monitors – A Perspective. The behaviour of non-target organism after exposure to chemicals - Possibilities of implementation in the regulatory process, Leipzig, GERMANY, October 30 - November 01, 2019.

Impact/Purpose:

The workshop intends to (i) discuss the existing information on behavioural changes of toxicants on different taxa (ii) discuss the potential ecological relevance of these effects, (iii) discuss if and how studies could be used in chemicals regulation, and (iv) discuss potential need of harmonization of study designs and test species

Description:

The use of behavioral endpoints for water quality assessment has a long history born from the observation that organisms often exhibit responses to toxic environments prior to succumbing to an ultimate endpoint. As an organism integrates the totality of their environment, physiological stress is manifested in self-preservation behaviors which may be induced at contaminant concentrations and time frames of lower magnitude than observed in traditional studies. The ability to detect these responses has evolved as new technologies are applied to the purpose. Early toxicity monitoring systems were limited due to insufficient signal recognition/analysis capability but benefited from the advent of sensitive analog to digital conversion technologies and powerful computing resources. Regulation of toxic chemicals defaulted to drawing equivalence of observed experimental organismal impacts to contaminant concentrations. While this has been an effective tool to identify and control water quality impacts, there is likely more information which can be brought to the conversation by understanding responses exhibited by organisms prior to traditional acute and chronic assay endpoints. Establishment of the equivalence of efficacy of behavioral endpoints to their traditional counterparts for either regulatory work or source water monitoring can provide a compelling reason to elevate their use. Connection of the underlying physiological responses to population level impacts is challenging. One approach is through comparison of toxicological response data. Here, a brief overview of the evolution of online toxicity monitors, some relative toxicity data, and an argument for an approach to standardization will be explored.

Record Details: