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Measures of Environmental Performance and Ecosystem Condition (1999) / Chapter Skim
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Bioassays:
A Critique of Effluent Bioassays
Pages 189-198

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From page 189...
... Bioassays
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From page 191...
... The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
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From page 192...
... . During the 1970s, the EPA began to use bioassay results for particular chemicals to establish the water-quality criteria that are published in the EPA green, blue, red, and gold books (e.g., United States Environmental Protection Agency, 1973, 1986)
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From page 193...
... Current recommended test species for freshwater effluents include the alga Selenastrum capricornutum, the crustacean zooplankton Daphnia magna and Ceriodaphnia dubia, and the fathead minnow, Pimephales promelas. Although other taxa can be used in effluent bioassays, most states
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From page 194...
... Neither a theoretical basis nor comprehensive test data validate the assumption that effluents that pass bioassays will not adversely affect receiving ecosystems. Such effluents may still harm ecosystems for either of two reasons: Test organisms may be less sensitive than other species to toxins in effluents, or
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From page 195...
... To compensate for the possibility that sensitive species are not protected, effluent bioassay protocols use "application factors" to calculate acceptable effluent concentrations for compounds. Application factors are essentially safety factors that reduce permitted effluent limits below those that show toxicity in bioassays (e.g., Peltier and Weber, 1985, p.
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From page 196...
... Therefore, such tests can neither detect effects on those missing organisms, nor can they detect indirect effects that involve those missing organisms. However, because the tests involve more variables than do single-species bioassays, the mechanisms of any observed effects are more difficult to determine in multispecies microcosms than in single-species toxicity tests.
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From page 197...
... Singlespecies bioassays are suitable for developing water-quality criteria for particular chemicals, based on the assumption that these criteria protect individuals and that no synergistic effects occur with other chemicals in the environment. They are also useful as an initial screen to detect effluent toxicity.
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From page 198...
... Environmental Protection Agency. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water Regulations and Standards.
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Key Terms

  • toxicity tests
  • test organisms
  • toxic effects
  • chronic toxicity
  • test species

  • receiving ecosystems
  • effluent toxicity
  • acute toxicity
  • effluent bioassay
  • states environmental

  • water quality
  • direct toxic
  • food sources
  • quality criteria
  • particular chemicals

  • test conditions
  • bioassays measure
  • identification evaluations
  • crustacean zooplankton
  • aquatic organisms

  • actual ecosystems
  • bioassay results
  • particular clones
  • missing organisms
  • water source

  • effluents themselves
  • sensitive species
  • epa protocols
  • indirect effects
  • toxicity identification


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