Reproductive and Sexual Development Toxicity Assessment Tools

3 Reproductive and Sexual Development Toxicity Assessment Tools 

Briefly, there are many nationally (ASTM, Environmental Canada, and USEPA) and internationally validated methods available for assessing developmental and reproductive effects in aquatic plants and animals (ASTM, Environment Canada, ISO, and OECD). For plants, examples include the microalgal, freshwater macrophytes and marine algal growth tests (Nyholm and Kallquist 1989 Wang 1990 Eklund 2005). 

Environmental and Human Health Standards for Water and Soil 

For freshwater invertebrates, frequently used species are the pelagic crustacean Daphnia magna and the sediment-dwelling insect Chironomus sp., while marine crustacean test methods have used copepods and mysids. Molluscs and echinoderms are also important invertebrate species for developmental and reproductive effects assessment (EC 2003). Reproductive and developmental inhibition may be caused by both endocrine and nonendocrine modes of action however, based on current knowledge, PNEC assessments should be based on impaired fitness parameters (e.g., reduced rates of fertility, development, or fecundity) and not on molecular or biochemical changes (Ingersoll et al. 1999 Hutchinson 2002 Barata et al. 2004). 

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