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Media Resources :: Newsroom
Study analyzes importance of
test-species in protection of freshwater aquatic ecosystems
24 January 2005
A study published in the most recent
issue of Environmental
Toxicology and Chemistry examines the importance
of test species selection in constructing insecticide
species sensitivity distributions for aquatic ecosystems.
Lorraine Maltby, Naomi Blake, Theo Brock and Paul Van
den Brink compared species sensitivity distributions
for specific taxonomic groups, habitats and geographical
regions to determine the influence of the identity and
source of the species and to assess whether single-species
laboratory data could be used to protect a taxonomic
group in the field.
A species sensitivity distribution
is a statistical distribution estimated from a sample
of toxicity data and shown as a cumulative distribution
function. This approach is used to assess the ecological
risk posed by many organic and inorganic substances,
including metals, herbicides and insecticides, and to
determine the concentration at which a quantity of species
will be affected by a substance. Species sensitivity
distributions have been criticized for depending on
data from single-species laboratory tests conducted
with a random collection of species.
The study found that, for the 16
insecticides tested, similar species do not have different
sensitivities under field or laboratory conditions.
Additionally, the taxonomic groups used to construct
the species sensitivity distribution do have a significant
impact on hazard assessment, but the habitat and geographical
distribution of species generally do not.
Environmental
Toxicology and Chemistry is a monthly, peer-reviewed
journal published by the Society of Environmental Toxicology
and Chemistry (SETAC). The full study is available at
http://setac.allenpress.com.
For more information about the Society and other SETAC
publications, visit www.setac.org.
[Insecticide Species Sensitivity
Distributions: Importance of Test Species Selection
and Relevance to Aquatic Ecosystems. Environmental
Toxicology and Chemistry, 2005; 24(2):379 - 388.]
Contact:
April M. Phillips
T 850 469 1500 x 28
aprilp@setac.org
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