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Estimation of demographic toxicity through the double bootstrap.
Eric P M Grist1, Mark Crane, Claire Jones
1School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK.
Water Research
|April 12, 2003
Summary
This study introduces a new method to assess environmental toxicity using population growth rates, offering a more relevant approach for regulatory applications and risk assessment. The developed metric, ErCx, provides a population-level estimate of safe effect concentrations for environmental quality standards.
Area of Science:
- Environmental toxicology
- Ecotoxicology
- Population dynamics
Background:
- Traditional toxicity assessments use individual-based endpoints (NOEC, ECx) for risk assessment.
- Demographic endpoints may offer greater relevance for regulatory applications and environmental quality standards.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the effect of toxicity on population growth rate (r).
- To develop a demographic-based metric for estimating safe effect concentrations.
- To incorporate uncertainty using a 'double bootstrap' method.
Main Methods:
- Utilized individualized life table response data for Daphnia magna.
- Exposed organisms to varying concentrations of zinc sulphate solution.
- Applied a 'double bootstrap' technique to quantify uncertainty.
Main Results:
- Assessed the influence of increasing zinc sulphate concentrations on population growth rate.
- Defined a novel demographic-based metric, ErCx (effect on r concentration percentage).
- Demonstrated the utility of ErCx for population-level risk assessment.
Conclusions:
- Demographic endpoints, like the effect on population growth rate, are valuable for ecotoxicological risk assessment.
- The ErCx metric provides a population-level estimation of safe effect concentrations.
- This approach enhances the relevance of toxicity data for environmental quality standards.