[Toxicity tests and their application in safety assessment of water quality]

The safety of water quality has important impacts not only on the health of ecological system, but also on the survival and development of human beings. The conventional assessment methods for water quality based on the concentration limits are not reliable. The toxicity tests can vividly reflect the whole adverse biological effects of multiple chemicals in water body, which has been regarded as a necessary supplement for conventional water quality assessment methods based on physicochemical parameters. Considering the chemical pollutants usually have various adverse biological effects, the ecotoxicity testing methods, including lethality, genotoxicity, endocrine disrupting effects, were classified according to the different toxicity types. Then, the potential applications of toxicity testing methods and corresponding evaluation indices in evaluating the toxicity characteristics of ambient water samples were discussed. Particularly, the safety assessment methods for water quality based on the toxicity tests, including potential toxicology, toxicity unit classification system, potential ecotoxic effect probe, and safety assessment of water quality based on toxicity test battery, were summarized. This paper not only systematically reviewed the progress of toxicity tests and their application in safety assessment of water quality, but also provided the scientific basis for the further development in the future.