You are here:
Effects-Directed Analysis (EDA) and Toxicity Identification Evaluation (TIE): Complementary but Different Approaches for Diagnosing Causes of Environmental Toxicity
Citation:
Burgess, R., K. Ho, W. Brack, AND M. Lamoree. Effects-Directed Analysis (EDA) and Toxicity Identification Evaluation (TIE): Complementary but Different Approaches for Diagnosing Causes of Environmental Toxicity. ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND CHEMISTRY. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Pensacola, FL, 32(9):1935-1945, (2013).
Impact/Purpose:
Two approaches are available for performing environmental diagnostics on samples like municipal and industrial effluents, interstitial waters and whole sediments in order to identify anthropogenic contaminants causing toxicological effects. One approach is Toxicity Identification Evaluation (TIE), an approach developed primarily in North America to determine active toxicants to whole organism endpoints. The second approach is Effects Directed Analysis (EDA), an approach with its origins in both Europe and North America with an emphasis on sublethal in vitro endpoints. Both approaches have direct application in regulations like the United States’ Clean Water Act and Superfund, as well as the European Union’s Water Framework Directive. This Focus article provides an overview of each approach and highlights areas where the two approaches can complement one another and lead to the improvement of both.
Description:
Currently, two approaches are available for performing environmental diagnostics on samples like municipal and industrial effluents, interstitial waters and whole sediments in order to identify anthropogenic contaminants causing toxicological effects. One approach is Toxicity Identification Evaluation (TIE), an approach developed primarily in North America to determine active toxicants to whole organism endpoints. The TIE approach has been incorporated into regulatory programs as a tool for identifying the causes of toxicity in the United States Clean Water Act and Superfund programs. The second approach is Effects Directed Analysis (EDA), an approach with its origins in both Europe and North America. It is among the effects-based tools being discussed in Europe to support the Water Framework Directive. Unlike TIE, EDA uses primarily in vitro endpoints with an emphasis on organic contaminants as the cause of observed toxicity. The two approaches have fundamental differences that contrast them. In EDA, sophisticated and elegant fractionation and chemical analyses are performed to identify the causes of toxicity with very high specificity that can compromise contaminant bioavailability. In contrast, in TIE, maintaining toxicant bioavailability is considered critical to accurately identifying the causes of environmental toxicity. However, maintaining contaminant bioavailability comes with the cost of limiting, at least until recently, the use of the types of sophisticated fractionation and elegant chemical analyses that have resulted in the high specificity of toxicant diagnosis performed in EDA. This Focus article provides an overview of each approach and highlights areas where the two approaches can complement one another and lead to the improvement of both.
