Ecological endpoints

Environmental and Human Health Standards for Water and Soil 

---

In contrast to the situation for human risk assessment, regulatory rules to deal with mixture risks for ecological endpoints are limited in number. US and EU legislation... 

Suter, G.W., II. 1989. Ecological endpoints. In U.S. EPA. Ecological Assessments of Hazardous Waste Sites A field and laboratory reference document. W. Warren-Hicks, B.R. Parkhurst, and S.S. Baker, Jr., Eds. EPA 600/3-89/013. March 1989. 

We are more environmentally conscious and have integrated ecological endpoints into the testing of new products so that they do not cause the problems of their predecessors. Toxicology continues to refine these endpoints to ensure that newly developed chemicals are as safe as possible. Finally, when mistakes do occur, we usually catch them earlier and develop remedial strategies. However, I believe we often overreact in this regard, when we associate detection of a chemical with actually causing an effect. Science can quantify the difference it behooves us to educate the public to be able to interpret the conclusions. 

Residue and biomarker endpoints can be measured in field and lab studies. Ecological endpoints, however, can only truly be examined in the field. Survival, reproduction and population endpoints are the most studied ecological endpoints 70, 80). Careful monitoring of nestling health and parental breeding behavior may reveal responses to a contaminant that are not identified by overt physiological changes. 

It is essential to define the assessment scenario within which the assessment endpoint will be assessed. The assessment scenario should specify the spatial, temporal, and ecological boundaries within which the endpoint is assessed, since these have substantial implications for the structure of the assessment model and the scope of the input data. The assessment scenario should also describe those aspects of the ecosystem that are relevant to the assessment, that is, those aspects that have an influence on the mechanisms of exposure and effects that will be assessed. This step is important in all ecological risk assessments it places the assessment activity into the real context of an ecosystem, helps to prevent construction of inappropriate models, and helps with interpretation and communication of results. 

USEPA] US Environmental Protection Agency. 2003. Generic ecological assessment endpoints (GEAEs) for ecological risk assessment. Risk Assessment Forum. Washington (DC) USEPA. 

Assessment endpoint An explicit expression of the enviromnental value that is to be protected, operationally defined by an ecological entity and its attributes. For example, sahnon are valued ecological entities reproduction and age-class structure are some of their important attributes. Together salmon reproduction and age-class structure form assessment endpoints. 

Measurement endpoint A measurable ecological characteristic that is related to the valued characteristic chosen as the assessment endpoint. Also known as measure of effect. ... 

Currently Advanced risk assessment harbour sediment before disposal In vivo bioassays with cultured species ecologically relevant endpoints growth Development, survival, reproduction PAF or msPAF In vivo bioassays with wild species... 

Since QSAR models for narcosis toxicity based on Kn/W are available for many endpoints and species, it has become a popular approach applied for screening the ecological risk posed by substances for which no data are available. ECOSAR itself, with 150 relationships defined for over 50 chemical classes, has been used to predict toxicity and estimate hazards for chemical warfare agents in marine environments [96], pharmaceuticals [102-104], direct and indirect food additives, and industrial chemicals [105]. Although there are several QSAR and other predictive tools currently available, this section focuses on ECOSAR as it is one of the most widely and easily used. 

---