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METHODS IN ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY
Citation:
Fairbrother, A, M A. Lewis, AND R E. Menzer. METHODS IN ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY. 4th, 2001, Chapter 37, A. Wallace Hayes (ed.), Principles and Methods of Toxicology, Fourth Edition. Taylor & Francis, Inc., Philadelphia, PA, , 1751-1801.
Description:
Freshwater and marine environments contain complex ecosystems such as rivers, lakes, wetlands and estuaries. Each of these ecosystems contains unique biota that may be represented by several thousand species, such as for the Gulf of Mexico. The biota, both flora and fauna, are often exposed to a variety of toxicants, which, in most cases, result from anthropogenic activities. As a result, toxicity and environmental damage may occur. The study of these adverse effects on freshwater and saltwater biota and on the ecosystems which contain them is aquatic toxicology. Aquatic toxicologists do not use all of the available toxicity tests to determine the effects for any single toxicant. Instead, a tiered approach is used to provide a systematic and comprehensive process of deriving the toxicity data needed to assess the environmental hazard of a chemical. This approach consists of conducting short-term screening tests prior to using predictive studies that are more complex and time consuming. This sequential evaluation provides an efficient use of resources and tends to eliminate unnecessary testing.