Toxicology and ecotoxicology

Human toxicology is concerned with collecting data on the effects of exposure to a test substance in order to assess the potential of that substance to cause harm to man. Ecotoxicology evaluates the potential of a substance to accumulate, persist or cause harm in living organisms following release into the air, water and soil compartments of the environment. 

Aquatic hazard testing gives an indication of the toxicity of a substance by utilising species representative of the three main levels of existence, i.e. primary producers (e.g. bacteria, algae), primary consumers (e.g. non-predatory invertebrates such as Daphnia) and secondary consumers (e.g. fish). 

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Table 1 indicates the significant physical properties of thiophene and 2- and 3-methylthiophene Table 2, the toxicological and ecotoxicological properties. 

Table 2. Toxicological and Ecotoxicological Properties of Thiophene and Methylthiophenes ...

Table 3. Physical, Toxicological, and Ecotoxicological Properties of 2-Bromothiophene, 3-Bromothiophene, and 2-Bronio-3-Methylthiophene...

Leahey, J.P. (Ed.) (1985). The Pyrethroid Insecticides—A multiauthor work that covers many aspects of the toxicology and ecotoxicology of the earlier pyrethroids. 

Crossland, N.O. (1994). Extrapolation from mesocosms to the real world. Toxicology and Ecotoxicology News 1, 15-22. 

Lettieri, T., Recent applications of DNA microarray technology to toxicology and ecotoxicology,... 

Encouraged by recent legislations all over the world aimed to protect human health and environment, alternative methods have proved their abilities to assess the toxicity of chemicals. Hence, a possible solution to the characterization of the toxicological and ecotoxicological risk of the chemicals could be represented by the application of in silico and in vitro techniques. 

Among the possible alternative methods, in vitro assay (for ATMs) and quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs) models (for ANTMs) are the most applied approaches in the toxicological and ecotoxicological evaluation of chemicals profiles, even in the field of environmental research and risk assessment. 

The first innovation introduced by the work is the approach used in the case of missing data human toxicological and ecotoxicological values were predicted using freely available QSAR models like Toxicity Estimation Software Tool (T.E.S.T.) v 3.2 [26] and ToxBoxes [27] (nowadays ToxBoxes is no longer free). 

EUSES. The assessment of potential adverse effects induced by DeBDE exposure in both human and environmental targets has been evaluated by means of the EUSES model. Toxicological and ecotoxicological values for this contaminant... 

A Systematic Approach for Evaluating the Quality of Experimental Toxicological and Ecotoxicological Data, Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, 1997, 25, 1. 

Companies will be required to provide information on the identity and properties of a compound (including physical, chemical, toxicological, and ecotoxicological properties), the intended uses, the estimated human and environmental exposure, risks for humans and the environment, and proposals for risk management measures. Information requirements will depend largely on production volumes, but might be adjusted based on the intrinsic properties and conditions of use of individual substances. 

JACC Reports (Joint Assessment of Commodity Chemicals) are comprehensive reviews of toxicological and ecotoxicological data on individual chemical substances. 

In the chemical safety report, the hazard assessment of a particular substance is based on the data set provided in the technical dossier. This contains substance-specific information on physicochemical properties as well as on toxicological and ecotoxicological hazards. One objective of the hazard assessment is the substance s hazard identification, which comprises the determination of its physicochemical and hazardous properties for the purpose of classification. Concerning human health hazards, both human and nonhuman information is taken into consideration and evaluated with respect to the classification criteria laid down in the Dangerous Substances Directive and in the CLP Regulation, respectively. However, in most cases human data do not exist, so the hazard identification has to be based on data from animal experiments. With respect to teratogenicity, this hazardous property may in principle be detected in the following toxicity studies ... 

EDDS is a weaker chelant for Ca2+ and Mg2+ compared with most other chelants, but is much stronger for transition metal ions, giving it a unique selectivity for troublesome transition metal ions in hard water. Its main weakness is that it is generally more expensive (per kilogram) than other chelants however, this can be offset by its superior selectivity (Table 10.4), which allows the use of lower doses in some applications. EDDS (as the S,S-stereoisomer) is also readily biodegradable and has an excellent toxicological and ecotoxicological profile (Section 10.5.3.1). 

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